Ditchley Park Round Clump (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Spelsbury.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire.
Modern Authority of Oxfordshire.
1974 county of Oxfordshire.
Medieval County of Oxfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP39552124
Latitude 51.88837° Longitude -1.42676°

Ditchley Park Round Clump has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

...well preserved bowl barrow, used as central element in circular tree planting known as Round Clump. Measures 30m in dia, and stands up to 1m high. Quarry ditch surrounds mound, and is 9m wide and 1.5m deep. The barrow mound measures 30m in diameter and stands up to 1m high. Surrounding the mound is a quarry ditch which provided material for its construction. The ditch remains open and measures 9m wide and 1.5m deep. Broad low mound completely surrounded by ditch (no breaks or causeways). No signs of bailey: might be castle-mound but no clue as to use or purpose. Possibly landscaping associated with Ditchley Park. OS revision surveying. c.30m diameter and 1m high with a very prominent ditch, may have been landscaped and re-dug. Not marked as antiquity on OS map. (Oxfordshire HER)

(39552124) Broad low mound completely surrounded by a ditch (no breaks or causeways). No signs of bailey: might be castle-mound, but no clue as to age or purpose. (O.G.S.Crawford 1930)
Listed under round barrows. "Mound in Ditchley Park near Kiddington Drive, surrounded by a ditch 4ft. 6ins. deep, 343 ft. circumference, 9ft. high from bottom of ditch". (VCH 1907)
The mound is as described above and is rounded in profile without trace of building or other disturbance on its summit. The surrounding ditch is slightly sub-circular, narrowest at the NNW. The mound and ditch carry a few trees, possible up to 200 years old. Origins are obscure, may be the castle mound suggested by Crawford or just simply a landscape feature. The lack of historical information, topographical situation and
general construction of this feature tend to suggest it to be landscaping and doubtless contemporary with the general lay-out of Ditchley Park which is mainly 18th century. (F1 BHS 27-SEP-73)
SP 3955 2124 Ditchley Park Camp, Enstone. Barrow c.30m diameter and 1m high with a very prominent ditch. May have been landscaped and re-dug. Not marked as an antiquity on O S map. (Mudd, 1984). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1009415, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 21811
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 334948.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1579.

Books
- Potts, W., 1907, in Page, Wm (ed), 'Ancient Earthworks' VCH Oxfordshire Vol. 2 p. 346 (as round barrow) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Mudd, A., 1984, 'Round Barrows of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds' South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter Vol. 14 p. 52 online copy

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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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