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Alderton Motte

In the civil parish of Grafton Regis. In the historic county of Northamptonshire (Modern Authority of Northamptonshire, 1974 county of Northamptonshire).

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
  Confidence: It is doubtful that this site was a medieval fortification or palace.   Earthworks remains.
PastScape record that flat top mound near to Alderton Ringwork Castle (qv) has recently been identified as a motte. To me the symetrical layout of this mound in the formal garden of C16-C19 manor house make this look like a prospect mound. If it were a motte it would be isolated from the ringwork and not connected by any form of visible defensive work. Was the ringwork ever strong enough to warrent building a siege castle?

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP73874696

Air Photo from multimap logo

Air Photo and general mapping

1st edition OS Map from old maps logo

Mid to late 19th century maps

Modern Map from Ordnance Survey logo

Landscape form and features

Modern Map from streetmap logo

General location and route planning

Geograph British Isles geography.org.uk logo
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 343045
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.

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
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This record last updated on Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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