Mountsorrel Castle

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

Medieval motte and bailey comprising motte and second mound and part of bailey ditch surviving as mutilated earthworks. The castle was probably built circa 1080 by Hugh Lupus and came into the possession of Henry 11 in 1174. The Earl of Chester took it after the battle of Lincoln and later razed it to the ground in 1217. Excavations in 1952 revealed C12 to C13 pottery. Two natural highpoints have been adapted within the castle. The northern of these is a roughly circular motte, 2m to 3m high above the surrounding hill, and about 18m at the base but part quarried away . 50m south of this is a second mound, roughly circular, about 2m high above the surrounding hill and about 15m in diameter at the base. On the south side of the hill is the remaining part of the bailey ditch which survives for a length of 60m and is about 12m wide and 2m deep. The surviving earthwork show clear signs of being, at least in part, demolished stone buildings and walls. Situated on commanding site overlooking the A6.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK58201495

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 317167
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/129/mountsorrel.htm
• 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) p42
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p141 [slight]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p255
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p262-3
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p745 [slight]
    Hoskins, W.G. (ed), 1954, VCH Leicestershire Vol2 p82
    Hoskins, W.G., 1949, Midland England (Batsford) p84
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Hensmen, 1911, in Dryden, Mem. Old Leics. (London) p115-22 [history]
    Wall, 1907, in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol1 p246
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p418 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/n481/mode/1up
    Nichols, J., 1795, The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicestershire Vol3 p85-6
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 1997, 'Early Leicestershire Castles: Archaeology and Landscape History' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol71 p31 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 p37 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/CastlesPagesfromvolumeLIII-4.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
    1958, Bulletin of the Loughborough and District Archaeological Society Vol1 p9-10
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/huntseng.html#leics8]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p279
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Ardron, F., 1952, Research on the Area around Mountsorrel Castle (Unpub handwritten notes: Leics SMR)