Elmdon Castle Grove

In the civil parish of Elmdon. In the historic county of Essex (Modern Authority of Essex, 1974 county of Essex).

Earthwork of Ringwork, described by RCHM as 1/4 mile north north west of the church, 165ft in diameter at the base. A dry ditch and the ring work is planted with trees and overgrown. Children play there creating a small amount of ground disturbance. There is no trace of other earthworks although there is a series of ponds (moats?) to the south at Elmdonbury. It was in good condition in 1975 and 1981.45.5m in diameter at the base and with a strong rampart around the top and a dry ditch. 60m overall in diameter, the mound attains a height of 3.5m above the bottom surrounding dry ditch which averages 12m in width. The interior, level with the surrounding ground, has a perimeter bank about 2m high on the south side that reduces to 1m on the north west side. The only mutilation is an apparently modern cut through the interior bank on the south east side.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL45983998

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 370506
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 3878 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Books
  • Neville, David, 2003, Lost Castles of Essex (Ian Henry) p89
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p28
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p144
    RCHME, 1916, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex. Vol1 [north-west] p80-81
    Gould, Chalkley, 1903, in Doubleday, Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Essex Vol1 p293-4
• Journal Articles
  • Milton, P. and Priddy, D., 1984-85, 'Surveys of two small earthwork castles at Elmdon and Bulmer' in Priddy, D. (ed) 'Work of the Essex County Council Archeological Section 1983-84' Essex Archaeology and History Vol16 p116-118
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol33 p106-12 [records a precursor site a 1000 yards away, presumably the mill mound on Freewood Lane]