Mohun Castle, South Perrott

In the civil parish of South Perrott. In the historic county of Dorset (Modern Authority of Dorset, 1974 county of Dorset).

Mohun Castle, earthworks immediately S. of the church, consisted of a moated enclosure with two or more outer enclosures. The area enclosed by the moat was about 3/4 acre, but the N. side has been obliterated, mainly by an extension of the churchyard. The moat is dry and there is an entrance on the S. side. There are traces of a long rectangular enclosure on the E., and a narrow L-shaped enclosure on the S. (RCHME). The site lies on low-lying ground and is grass covered. There is no trace of stonework or of a castle mound nor is there an obvious building platform within the area of the moat. The Porter's Lodge could not be located. The moat itself is a pronounced feature with traces of an inner and an outer bank in the East. The Northern portion of the moat could not be traced. North of the siting symbol the ground is considerably disturbed. The remainder of the earthworks form no precise pattern but are comparable to the usual form of Medieval Manorial earthworks (Field Investigators Comments-F1 JR 23-MAY-55). (PastScape)
The north-eastern quadrant of the site is occupied by St Mary's Church and here all surface traces of the castle have been all but obliterated, presumably during the creation and subsequent extension of the churchyard. However, much of the site to the south and west remains relatively undisturbed and the southern defences survive as well-preserved earthworks including a substantial moat (averaging 1.3m in depth). Many other earthworks survive both within and beyond the latter but as these have never been subjected to an accurate topographic survey it is difficult to appreciate the layout of the site. (Linford)
Mohun Castle, a moated structure 200 feet by 180 feet. This was probably the original centre of the village. There appears to be slight shrunken village remains in the valley to the West, and broad ring to the South. (PastScape)
Nothing to suggest this site was anything more than a large moated manor house. The question here, as with other such sites, is the reason this site has a 'castle' name when other similar sites are called 'manor' or 'court'.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST47160643

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 192881
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 1 103 002 '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 Wessex (Malvern) p23
    Wilton, Phil,1995, Castles of Dorset (Wimborne)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p129 [possible]
    RCHME, 1952, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset. Vol1: west (HMSO) p177-8
    Hutchin, J., 1863 (3edn org. pub. 1774), History of Dorset Vol2 p164-8 [Facsimile edn by EP Publishing produced 1973]
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Linford, P., 1996, Mohun Castle, South Perrot, Dorset. Resistivity Survey, July 1996. http://sdb2.eng-h.gov.uk/reports/mohun/