Reasons for Designation
Motte castles are medieval fortifications introduced into Britain by the
Normans. They comprised a large conical mound of earth or rubble, the motte,
surmounted by a palisade and a stone or timber tower. In a majority of
examples an embanked enclosure containing additional buildings, the bailey,
adjoined the motte. Motte castles and motte-and-bai1ey castles acted as
garrison forts during offensive military operations, as strongholds, and, in
many cases, as aristocratic residences and as centres of local or royal
administration. Built in towns, villages and open countryside, motte castles
generally occupied strategic positions dominating their immediate locality
and, as a result, are the most visually impressive monuments of the early
post-Conquest period surviving in the modern landscape. Over 600 motte castles
and motte-and-bailey castles are recorded nationally, with examples known from
most regions. Some 100-150 examples do not have baileys and are classified as
motte castles. As one of a restricted range of recognised early post-Conquest
monuments, they are particularly important for the study of Norman Britain and
the development of the feudal system. Although many were occupied for only a
short period of time, motte castles continued to be built and occupied from
the 11th to the 13th centuries, after which they were superseded by other
types of castle.
The motte exhibits a rare modification into a moated site. Such sites were
built throughout England in the medieval period, often as prestigious
seignorial residences, with the provision of a moat as a status symbol rather
than as a practical military defence. Moated sites form a significant class
of medieval monument and are important for the understanding of the
distribution of wealth and status in the contryside.
The monument at the Old Manor House includes well preserved examples of a
motte castle and a manorial moat. The latter is of particularly complex form
displaying a wide diversity of features. Environmental evidence, enabling
reconstruction of the economy of the site, may be recovered from waterlogged
silts of the ditches, fishponds and the wellshaft, and also from buried
landsurfaces beneath the motte mound and moat banks. Remains of buildings are
known to survive on the moat island and the top of the motte.
Details
The monument includes a Norman motte castle later incorporated into a large
and elaborate moated site. The monument is situated on the crest of a ridge
which runs east-west.
The motte is an earthen mound about 2m in height and 50m in diameter.
Building materials, including stone and handmade brick fragments, are
scattered on the top. The mound is surrounded by a waterfilled ditch about
12m wide by up to 3m deep. A channel leaves the western arm of the ditch at a
tangent and runs north, towards the outer moat. Access to the motte is via a
causeway on the north-east side.
The castle was later enclosed by a large sub-rectangular moated site which
measures up to 260m north-south by 165m east-west and is defined by a
waterfilled ditch 12m wide and 3m deep. The northern arm is linked to the
motte ditch and the flow was originally controlled by a sluice. On the
northern, western, and southern arms of the ditch there is an outer bank 7m
wide and 1.5m high. On the eastern arm the outer bank has been eroded and is
only clearly visible near the northern end. Gaps in the bank at the north-
west and south-west corners and on the southern arm are minor entry-points
onto the island but the main access to the interior is via a causeway on the
eastern arm which aligns with a dirt track which skirts the northern perimeter
of the moat. The interior contains a number of interesting features. The
western, southern and eastern arms of the ditch have an internal bank 1m high
and 5m wide while at the south of the island is a complex of six fishponds of
different types. Parallel to the southern arm of the moat and inside the
inner bank is a narrow waterfilled pond measuring 10m wide, 110m long and
about 2m deep; this is the largest of the six. Just north of this pond is a
series of three smaller ponds joined end-to-end by short leats. These are
about 8m wide by 2m deep and the largest is 22m long. All three hold water.
The remaining pair of ponds lies parallel to the western arm of the moat. The
outermost pond is 1m deep and dry, measuring about 70m long and 10m wide. The
innermost is deeper, at 2m, and still contains water. This is also 10m wide
but is only 60m long. There is a slight bank around the northern end of both
ponds. In the north-eastern corner of the moat are the remains of buildings
associated with the former Old Manor Farm which has been demolished down to
its foundations. Handmade brick and structural timber fragments were observed
in the rubble. The plan of the buildings is obscured by rubble and
vegetation. There is an open wellshaft in the vicinity of the ruins
surrounded by a post and wire fence.
Although the monument now appears to be rather isolated, it lies on the
postulated route of an ancient ridgeway running from Little Staughton in the
direction of Hail Weston. Situated as it is on a natural high point, the
monument commands an excellent view of the surrounding countryside. These
strategic factors no doubt influenced the siting of the Norman castle. More
settled times after the Conquest saw the alteration of the castle into a
moated manorial residence. The Old Manor House was also known as Cretingsbury
or Cottingsbury and belonged to Sir Adam de Creting who died in 1294. The
site is shown on Jeffreys' Map of Bedfordshire 1768. The Old Manor Farm house
was largely built in the 17th-18th century but incorporated elements of an
earlier timber structure. The house has been derelict at least since the
early 1970's.
The fence around the well shaft is excluded from the scheduling as is the
surface of the trackway. The ground beneath them is included. The rubble and
timber fragments associated with the demolished buildings are considered part
of the scheduling.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
