Castle Batch
Somerset, England
Site of Castle Batch
Castle Batch is located in Somerset
Castle Batch
Castle Batch
Coordinates51°22′08″N 2°55′06″W / 51.3688°N 2.9182°W / 51.3688; -2.9182
TypeMotte, possible motte and bailey or ringwork
Site information
Open to
the public		Yes
ConditionOnly earthworks remain

Castle Batch was a fortification at Worle that once stood overlooking the town of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England.

Details

Castle Batch was a motte constructed by the Norman lord Walter of Douai between the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and 1086.[1] It was built on a ridge above the surrounding area, with a mound that is now 3 metres (9.8 ft) high and 42 metres (138 ft) across, surrounded by a ditch up to 10 metres (33 ft) wide.[1] The entrance was probably on the north side of the motte.[1] A possible bailey has been identified alongside the motte.[2] Although typically characterised as a motte, the mound has a slight indentation in the centre and archaeologist Stuart Prior considers the mound to have been a ringwork.[3]

Around 1200 the estate belonged to William De Courtney and by 1303 by John de Beauchamp.[4]

In the 21st century the site forms part of local parkland, and is protected by law as a scheduled monument.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Castle Batch" (PDF). Extract from English Heritage's Record of Scheduled Monuments. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Retrieved 9 January 2013.; Prior, Stuart (2006). The Norman Art of War: a Few Well-Positioned Castles. Stroud, UK: Tempus. p. 71. ISBN 0752436511.
  2. ↑ "YCCCART 2011 / Y9: North Somerset HER 2011/205, Castle Batch, Worle" (PDF). Yatton, Congresbury, Claverham and Cleeve Archaeological Research Team. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Prior, Stuart (2006). The Norman Art of War: a Few Well-Positioned Castles. Stroud, UK: Tempus. p. 71. ISBN 0752436511.; "Castle Batch" (PDF). Extract from English Heritage's Record of Scheduled Monuments. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  4. ↑ Dunning, Robert (1995). Somerset Castles. Tiverton, UK: Somerset Books. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-0-86183-278-1.
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