Groby Castle Hill

In the civil parish of Groby. In the historic county of Leicestershire (Modern Authority of Leicestershire, 1974 county of Leicestershire).

Medieval motte and bailey castle surviving as an earthwork. The Castle was built in the late C11 by Hugh de Grantmesnil and was destroyed in 1172. Excavations in 1962-3 showed the motte was built around an existing stone structure of function, possibly a tower. Fishponds to north destroyed by road by-pass. The oval castle motte is 5 to 6m high with a flattish top and measures 38m east to west and 25m north to south. To the east is a flat bailey area extending for 20m and enclosed by a ditch surviving for a length of 35m and 15m wide and 2m deep. On its outer east side it has a slight bank 1m high. Now largely destroyed and now beneath embanked road. Creighton speculates that the motte was built over a pre-existing, already somewhat ruinous, Saxon residential tower and represents a continuity of use of a manorial site.
A Close Roll entry of May 1344 describes the manor and notes a garden called 'le Tourhull' (Towerhill), an ancient ditch called 'le Slade' and a house called 'le Baillyfeshous'. Quiet what sort of garden was on the motte, market or pleasure? Whichever the well drained soil should have encouraged plant growth.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK52390764

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 921163
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular '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, or elsewhere.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/140/grobycastle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/groby.html
• Books
  • Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p32
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p35
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p141 [slight]
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p47
    Woodward, S., 1984, The Landscape of a Leicestershire Parish: The Historical Development of Groby (Leicestershire Museums, Art Galleries and Record Service) p20-1
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p253
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p238
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall, 1907, in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol1 p258-9
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p413
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p351
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O. H., 1997, 'Early Leicestershire Castles: Archaeology and Landscape History' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol71 p22-5 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/creightonvolume71-2sm.pdf
    McWhirr, A.D. and Winter, M.J., 1978-79, 'Medieval Castles Additional Information' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol54 p74-75 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/ALRPagesfromvolumeLIV-8.pdf
    Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol53 p36 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/CastlesPagesfromvolumeLIII-4.pdf
    Hurst, G., 1964, Medieval Archaeology Vol8 p255 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    1963-4, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol39 p51 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/ALRSmPagesfromsmvolumeXXXIX-6.pdf
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    1927, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol15 p196-201
    1902, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol9 p118-9 [a re-edition of JBAA article] http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/BAAPagesfromIXpartII-5.pdf
    Chalkley Gould, 1901, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol7 p55-6
    1870, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol2 p320
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • CCloseR (1343-1346) p373
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p280
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p17,18 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Davison, B.K., 1963, Excavations at Groby, Leicestershire (Unpublished site notebook; Leicestershire SMR)