Melton Mowbray; The Mount

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; The Mound

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

Medieval motte surviving as an earthwork probably reused later as a mill mound. Variously supposed in the past to be a tumulus, Civil War grave or modern garden feature. A motte castle approximately 30m in diameter and 3m high, with a flat top 12m in diameter. There is no evidence for a ditch. A documentary reference to a motte at Melton, dated 1364, says that it was granted to the hospital of St Lazarus at Burton Lazars and refers to cutting down trees on the mound. A reference to a mill at Mount Pleasant in 1827 suggests a later use for the mound. Cantor hints at a stone castle here. Creighton questions status of mound as castle. The mound is situated on the other side of the river from the parish church and away from the area of settlement. I would not exclude the possibility that there was a castle at Melton Mowbray given it's status as a market town before Domesday but the Mount seems an unlikely site. A more probably site for the manor house of the Mowbray's (Molbrai), which, considering the status of the family, may well have been fortified, has been identified in King Street (qv)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK74771884

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 321327
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.

• Books
  • Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p36
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p41
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p255
    Hunt, P.E., 1957, The Story of Melton Mowbray p63-4
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall, 1907, in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol1 p275 [may possibly refer]
    Nichols, J., 1804, The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicestershire Vol2 p2
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 1997, 'Early Leicestershire Castles: Archaeology and Landscape History' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol71 p29 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/creightonvolume71-2sm.pdf
    Liddle, P., 1989, 'Archaeology in Leicestershire and Rutland' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol63 p119 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/ALRPagesfromvol63sm-9.pdf
    Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol53 p39 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/CastlesPagesfromvolumeLIII-4.pdf