GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Knapp Farm Mound

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Old Radnor; Maes Hyfaidd; Knap

In the community of Old Radnor.
In the historic county of Radnorshire.
Modern authority of Powys.
Preserved county of Powys.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO24585997
Latitude 52.23288° Longitude -3.10601°

Knapp Farm Mound has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
Description

A mutilated and truncated mound, c.25m in diameter and 5.0m high, thought unlikely to have been a castle mound, a sepulchral function being preferred. (Coflein)

Flat topped motte 4.5m high. dai 28m N-S by 32m. top 6m dia. certain amount of modern mutilation around base on W side.
Possibly a prehistoric monument rather than a motte (Gibson, 1999).
Generally assumed to be a motte, but unlike the other mottes in the vicinity it is not flat-topped, appears to have no surrounding ditch and is not surrounded by ridge and furrow. May possibly be related to large mounds like Silbury Hill (Gibson, A, 2000, 49).
Mound - not possible to say whether sepulchral or defensive without excavating. Other tumuli in the area, and its position, unsuitable for defensive construction, make it seem more likely a barrow.
Mound is 20ft high and 20ft diameter at summit. Planted over with trees. No traces of an enclosure; the low banks near it are probably connected with later farming. (RCAHM 1913)
Motte with no surrounding ditch (Downman 1916)
Motte 4.5m high, Diameter 28m (N-S) , 32m (E-W) and flat top 6m diameter. No trace of bailey or ditch (OS 1973)
Motte (Renn 1968)
Appearance more suggestive of a motte than barrow (Cadw AM7)
Motte 4.5m high. Base diameter 28m N-S x 32m E-W. Flat summit, diameter 6m. Grass covered with some large trees (Cadw 1986)
Site may belong to a class of large barrow such as those known in Wessex and Yorkshire Proximity to 2 other well-preserved barrows and the Walton and Hindwell Neolithic enclosures may be relevant. Height 5m, base diameter 25m, Site truncated on E and S sides. Contour survey of mound. (Gibson 1997a).
Partly truncated on E side by a wall. On W side there is some diturbance possibly due to roots. (CPAT 2002). (Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust HER)

The monument consists of a mound, an artificial elevation of earth or stones. It was formerly considered to be the remains of a motte, a castle mound dating to the medieval period (c. 1066 -1540 AD), but more recent commentators prefer to see it as forming part of the prehistoric ritual landscape of the Walton Basin, much of which can be dated to the Neolithic or Bronze Age (c 4,200BC - 800BC). The mound is somewhat mutilated and truncated by later activity. It measures c.28m north-south by c.32m and is c.4.5m high. (Scheduling Report)
Comments

A difficult mound to interpret although it should be made clear that a prehistoric origin does not exclude medieval adaptation and use as a motte. If this was being used as a mainly symbolic mound, showing the knightly status of tenant of the farmstead, a flat top may not have been essential and there is little reason to give consideration to 'defensive construction'. However the evidence that this originated as a route-side barrow is good and the evidence for medieval use is weak.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
Coflein   County HER   Scheduling        
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   Historic Wales   V. O. B.   Geology   LIDAR  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
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 the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain Designated Historic Asset Descriptive Information from The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), 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.
Lidar coverage in the UK is not complete. The button above will give an idea of the area of coverage. Higher resolution lidar images in both DSM and DTM form may be available from Lle A geo-Portal for Wales (click the preview tag to bring up a map and then select format byclicking on the small blue diamond in the top right corner of the map.)
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

This record last updated 07/07/2016 10:04:08
Home | Books | Links | The Fortifications and Castles | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact

¤¤¤¤¤