2013

SK5188 : Castle Hill, Laughton-en-le-Morthen

taken 11 years ago, near to Laughton en le Morthen, Rotherham, England

Castle Hill, Laughton-en-le-Morthen
Castle Hill, Laughton-en-le-Morthen
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-bailey castles acted as garrison forts and strongholds, and sometimes as aristocratic residences.

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.

Castle Hill at Laughton-en-le-Morthen is a very well-preserved example of a conventional motte and bailey castle, consisting of a motte with a kidney-shaped inner bailey to the north east. An outer bailey lay to the north and east under what is now the churchyard of the fourteenth century parish church of All Saints. According to the Domesday Book, Laughton was the location of the hall of Earl Edwin of Mercia, brother-in-law to King Harold Godwinson. It is thought that the site of the Saxon hall underlies the Norman earthworks since the church itself, adjacent to the site, lies on a Saxon foundation. After the Conquest, the manor was granted to Roger de Busli who built the Norman castle as part of the Honour of Tickhill.

Laughton Castle Hill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Although it stands on private land (it's actually in someone's back garden), this view of the motte, with part of the bailey in the foreground, is taken from the churchyard.

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Mike Nield and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
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SK5188, 93 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Mike Nield   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 12 January, 2013   (more nearby)
Submitted
Saturday, 15 December, 2018
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SK 51616 88202 [1m precision]
WGS84: 53:23.2887N 1:13.5229W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SK 51676 88241
View Direction
West-southwest (about 247 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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