Oare Common, Hermitage (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Chieveley, Chievely

In the civil parish of Hermitage.
In the historic county of Berkshire.
Modern Authority of West Berkshire.
1974 county of Berkshire.
Medieval County of Berkshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SU50577345
Latitude 51.45622° Longitude -1.27225°

Oare Common, Hermitage has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are uncertain remains.

Description

On the summit of the ridge called Oare Common are two earthworks, A small enclosure at SU 5057 7345 is of slight construction and appears to be of a pastoral nature. A large enclosure at SU 5063 7329 comprises a rather weak circular enclosure with an outer work or annexe which is comparatively strong and probably defensive. It could be of I.A origin, but its plan and reasonable state of preservation is more suggestive of a form of ring motte and bailey. The entrances, much destroyed, appear to have been in the N.W. approached from the crest of the ridge. The features, referred to by the previous authorites are visible, through the trees, as earthworks on aerial photographs. They comprise two incomplete curvilinear ditched enclosures situated in the woods on Oare Common. One of the enclosures is defined by a ditch which describes an arc which is 120m long and encloses an area which measures 55m across. A ditch, measuring 90m long, is situated to the north of the enclosure and may be an outwork. The other enclosure encloses a curvilinear area which measures 60m by 40m. The date of these features is unclear. They could be of late prehistoric date but they could represent the remnants of Medieval features. (PastScape)

Rejected by King as an Iron Age hill fort.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 237422.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MWB4154.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- David Nash Ford's Historic Buildings of Berkshire
Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 13 (Reject)

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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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