The Gatehouse website record for Ratley Motte

In the civil parish of Ratley and Upton. In the historic county of Warwickshire (Modern Authority of Warwickshire, 1974 county of Warwickshire).

Medieval motte and bailey castle, with possible Saxon origins. The motte measures 13m across at the summit and stands 6m above the base of the surrounding ditch. There are two baileys one to the north west and one to the south east. Excavations between 1968 and 1973 discovered a few C12 to C13 artefacts. Motte built on ringwork, footings of stone gatehouse found. Motte standing on a wedge-shaped hill. It is about 13m across at the top and has very steep sides 5 to 6.7m above the ditch which is formed round it. There is a small bailey on the N side enclosed by a high bank and on the S is an enclosure 20-23m across with a somewhat irregular bank. The whole surface of the enclosed area is much broken, presumably by people digging for stone. The buildings of Ratley village may have been built out of stone from the castle. The Motte must have been crowned by a timber tower, the S enclosure is possibly the site of later buildings, the bailey being too small to contain them in the usual way. Turchil the Saxon owned Ratley and he or one of his sons may well have been responsible for the castle.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP38094730

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 335167
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 692 '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.

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