The Gatehouse website record for Tapton Motte, Chesterfield

In the civil parish of Chesterfield. In the historic county of Derbyshire (Modern Authority of Derbyshire, 1974 county of Derbyshire).

At Tapton, "the hill, commonly called Windmill Hill, from a windmill formerly erected there, is in old deeds called Castle-Hill, and a close or field also of the Duke of Devonshire's, there is called Castle-field. Hollinshed, where he speaks of the course of the river Rother at this place, mentions also Topton-Castle, which is also mentioned in the parish register of Chesterfield, A.D. 1605, and Robert de Ferrars was taken prisoner, 1266, apud castrum de Chestrefelde, as we have it in Leland's Collectanea, vol. I, 276, III, 403". (PastScape re. Pegge)
Within the public gardens attached to Tapton House School, the property of Chesterfield Corporation, is a large mound, 36.0 m. in average diameter and c. 2.0 m. in height. There are no traces of a ditch; the mound has a flat top, c.20.0 m. in average diameter and is planted with small trees and shrubs. It is slightly mutilated on the north by the digging of potting soil and tipping rubbish. No evidence of a bailey was seen in the area. The place-name evidence favours the identification of the mound as a motte but its weak profile and the suggestion of a windmill hereabouts may indicate an alternative classification as a mill-mound. Its proximity to the house may suggest a gazebo. It may be a motte which has been mutilated by subsequent use for either of these two alternatives. `Castlefield' could not be identified but the mound is certainly now named `Castle Hill'. (PastScape ref. Field Investigators Comments–F1 WW 27-APR-60)
It is clear that Tapton House occupies the bailey and that any evidence for the bailey ditches is lost under later building and gardening.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK39167214

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 314366
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.

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
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