Rampton, Giants Hill

In the civil parish of Rampton. In the historic county of Cambridgeshire (Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire, 1974 county of Cambridgeshire).

Giants' Hill is a strongly moated site, comparable in form to Burwell Castle (TL 56 NE 1). It consists of a rectangular island 150 feet long and 135 feet wide, surrounded by an extensive wet moat fed from a large land drain to the east. The moat is 50 feet wide on the north, east and south sides, but is 120 feet wide on the west. There is a low causeway at the south west corner. Along the outer edge of the moat to the north there is a mound of earth 150 feet long, 45 feet wide, and rising from 6 feet high at the east end to 12 feet high at the west. Outside this are several small banks which look like old enclosures. As at Burwell, the long bank probably represents spoil from the moat. The island site has been raised 2 to 4 feet above ground level. The site probably represents one of the castles begun by Stephen in the 12th century to contain Geoffrey de Mandeville, and abandoned unfinished in 1144 when Geoffrey died. There is no sign that any stone structures were ever raised on the island. (PastScape–ref. VCH, 1948)
Giant's Hill was later, very probably, the site of Lisles manor house. It is recorded that in 1942 the Home Guard dug trenches on the inside of this earthwork and exposed the foundations of walls built of rubble and bricks which appeared to be C15.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL43096801

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
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 371864
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 01771 '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
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p22
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p13 [slight]
    Wright, A.P.M. and Lewis, C.P. (eds), 1989, VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol9 p212 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=15407#p7
    Taylor, Alison, 1986, Castles of Cambridgeshire (Cambridge)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p40
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Phillips, 1948, in Salzman, L.F. (ed), VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol2 p37 [plan]
• Journal Articles
  • Autumn 2004, South Cambs Magazine p31 http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/69DD914E-B3F0-4F39-B057-61A3A73A8FBF/0/GiantsHillsRamptonWalk.pdf
    Brown, A.E. and Taylor, C.C., 1977, Cambridgeshire earthwork surveys: II. Rampton: Giant’s‘Hill’ Proceedings of the Cambridgeshire Antiquarian Society Vol67 p97-9
    Antiquity Vol33 p106-7
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Seymour, L., 2000, A Monument in its Landscape: Giant's Hill, Rampton, Cambridgeshire.