Thurleigh, Bury Hills

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Thornleigh

In the civil parish of Thurleigh. In the historic county of Bedfordshire (Modern Authority of Bedfordshire, 1974 county of Bedfordshire).

Bury Hill is a moated, conical mound, with its summit in two levels, the higher having a small circular hold with low banked edge. There is no other bank on the mound, which rises some 23 feet above the bottom of the ditch on the east, where the work is best preserved. The ditch is 8-10 feet in depth on the east, north and west, where there are fine remains of a great bank on the outer edge of the scarp. To the south these features are almost worked out and in recent years the mound itself has been dug for levelling, though this has now been stopped; many skeletons were found in the side of the mound, but no signs of masonry. Farm buildings have obscured much detail, but the outer enceinte, well defined by bank and ditch, remains almost entire, enclosing an area including practically the whole of the old village. Strong earthworks at the north east angle suggest a well-guarded entrance. The ponds at the bottom of the valley were used for water storage: Westminster Pond, scooped out of the hillside to a depth of 12 feet on its steeply cut north bank, being supplied from the slightly higher Black Pond. (PastScape–ref. Goddard, 1904)
The south east slopes of the motte have been reduced by digging, and the southern area of the now dry ditch has been destroyed by farm detail. There are counterscarp remains on the north side of the ditch. No indications of a bailey(s) enclosure is visible. The linear bank and ditch shown by Goddard (plan) to the east and south east has been largely obliterated and overlaid by modern detail, but the course of the ditch depression is still visible. In area TL 05345840, where best preserved, the work does not form an independent surveyable feature, and consists of a ditch about 5.0m wide and about 1.2m deep. The purpose and age of the work is uncertain, but together with Westminster and Black Ponds (ref. Goddard's plan) it forms an enclosed area which possibly represents an original boundary of the village. (PastScape–ref. field investigators comments, 1974)
A small area of earthworks at the north-eastern corner of the outer bailey was examined in advance of housing development. A possible entrance across the outer bailey bank and ditch was shown to be post-Medieval in date. No evidence of stone or timber fortification was seen on the castle earthworks, which contained quantities of Romano-British pottery. Two areas sealed by the castle earthworks were examined. Roman features were cut into the old ground surface, together with gullies, pits and post-holes containing coarse local pottery showing both Saxon and Iron Age characteristics. (PastScape–ref. Baker and Simco, 1977)
Possibly the castle of Thornleigh mentioned by Harvey.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL052584

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 360297
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 313 '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.

• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p17
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p4 [slight]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p7
    Baker , E. and Simco, A., 1977, ‘Thurleigh Castle' Archaeological Excavations 1976, (HMSO) p105
    Wadmore, Beauchamp, 1920, The Earthworks of Bedfordshire (Bedford) p129-33
    Page, Wm (ed), 1912, 'Parishes: Thurleigh', VCH Bedford Vol3 p104-9 [manorial history only http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42392]
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Goddard, A.R., 1904, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Doubleday, H.Arthur and Page, Wm (eds), VCH Bedford Vol1 p287-9
• Journal Articles
  • 1983, South Midlands Archaeology Vol13 p3
    Baker, D., 1982, 'Mottes, Moats and ringworks in Bedfordshire: Beauchamp Wadmore revisited' Château Gaillard Vol9-10 p35-54
    1978, CBA Group 9: South Midlands Archaeology newsletter Vol8 p36
    Baker , E. and Simco, A., 1977, CBA Group 9: South Midlands Archaeology newsletter Vol7 p20, 22
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, ‘Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol21 p233 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Dyer, 1962, Bedfordshire Magazine Vol8 p348-9