Edithmead Motte, Burnham (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Burneham

In the civil parish of Burham Without.
In the historic county of Somerset.
Modern Authority of Somerset.
1974 county of Somerset.
Medieval County of Somerset.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST32864932
Latitude 51.23917° Longitude -2.96311°

Edithmead Motte, Burnham has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A previously unpublished moated enclosure at Edithmead was excavated by the Burnham-on-Sea Archaeological and Natural History Society. An occupation level with C14 pottery was found beneath the turf. Much of the central mound had been quarried away (SANH, 1962).
The "excavation" was merely a rectangular pit 8ft by 6ft and 4ft deep dug into the central area. The excavators reached no conclusion as to the purpose of the site Is an irregular moated enclosure with the material from the ditch used to raise the level of the interior. Looks more like a mutilated motte than a homestead moat (OS record card)
Medieval pottery has been found in the locality (see PRN 10994). Scheduled as AM 454 as a moated site but not yet visited by HBMC Field Monument Warden (Dennison, SMR report, 1985)
This work is now considered to probably be a denuded motte and bailey (Moated site Research Group)
The earthworks are in good condition with good grass cover and the previous cattle damage on the N side on the moat slope is now grassed over. Water lying in moat end on western boundary has lead to limited cattle trampling (Site visit report - Graham, A., 1999, English Heritage Field Monument Warden). (Somerset HER)

If the earthwork is a denuded motte-and-bailey rather than a moated site, then it may perhaps have been the work of Walter of Douai or his son Robert of Bampton. Walter was lord of Burnham in 1086 and Robert remained in possession from his father's death about 1107 until his own rebellion in 1136 when he was succeeded by his daughter Juliana. It may be of interest that the owners from the late twelfth century were the descendants of Harold son of Ralph who in the time of William Rufus had owned the great castle of Ewyas Harold in Herefordshire. (Dunning 1995)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1006134, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number so454
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 192231.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 11121.

Books
- Prior, Stuart, 2006, A Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War (Tempus) p. 68-109
  Dunning, Robert, 1995, Somerset Castles (Somerset Books) p. 40
  Saunders, Ian, 1960, English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327 (Oxford: Clarendon Press)
Periodical Articles
- 1977, Moated Sites Research Group report Vol. 4 p. 11, 20
  1962, Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 106 p. 17-8
  1959, Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol. 104 p. 16-7
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- 1907, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Dean & Chapter of Wells (Historical Manuscripts Commission) Vol. 1 p. 47, 229, 454 online transcription
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Prior, Stuart, 2004, _"Winning Strategies" An Archaeological Study of Norman Castles in the Landscapes of Somerset, Monmouthshire and County Meath, 1066-1186 (PhD thesis; University of Bristol) Vol. 2 p. 140 Download via EThOS

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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