Monument record 682/1 - Castle Yard (Motte & Bailey Castle)

A well preserved motte and bailey situated in the angle between two deeply cut streams which add considerable strength to the topographic situation. Scheduled.

{2} Description and discussion about the Castle Yard earthworks. Comments that "the site is so overgrown with trees and shrubs that it is difficult to make out many of the lines of the original entrenchements."

{4} Castle Yard is situated in a position of considerable tactical strength. Its situation is surprisingly remote from any known medieval settlement. Nothing is known of its history, although it probably dates from the late C11th to the mid C12th.

{5} Sibbertoft Castle Yard (3 1/2 miles SW of Market Harborough) is a motte castle of the mound and court type. The mound is small and the ditch runs completely round it. The bailey to the SW is of horse-shoe form and was probably defended by a ditch and rampart. There is no true entrance and no stonework exists now, and possibly never did. It is likely that a timber stockade added to the defences.

A well preserved motte with single bailey situated in the angle between two deeply cut streams which add considerable strength to the topographical situation.
A causewayed entrance on the south side of the bailey is opposite a second causeway leading on to the motte. Another causeway across the bailey ditch on the west is adjacent to a small quarry and may well be modern. A complex of earthworks below the east rampart may be the remains of an early entrance route rendered obsolete by the later metalled track.
See annotated 1:2500 survey.

{9} Earthworks of Castle Yard or 'Marston Trussel Entrenchment'.

{10} On the spur of a hilltop is a 3m high motte, bounded to the south by a ditch and north by a bank. Depressions in the top of the motte indicate former buildings. The bailey to the south-east is 100m x 50m. It is surrounded by a ditch 1m deep with a slight inner bank 0.5m high.

Earthwork plans in sources {3}{7}{8}{12} and sections in {7}&{12}.

{13} Listed by Cathcart King.

{16} Plans, measurements, sections, tracing;

<1> 1801, The Gentleman's Magazine (1801), p.689 + Fig. (unchecked) (Journal). SNN18078.

<2> Law, W., 1903, Excursion to Castle Yard and Marston Trussell, p.44-53 (unchecked) (Article). SNN45624.

<3> 1889, The Archaeological Journal (46), p.209 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN13625.

<4> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.170-72 Site 8 (part checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<5> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.411-12 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP68SE4 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<7> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, Parish Files (unchecked) (Archive). SNN115.

<8> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, Drawer: Earthwork 2 (unchecked) (Archive). SNN115.

<9> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, (unchecked) (Archive). SNN115.

<10> English Heritage, 1992, English Heritage Scheduling Notification, (part checked) (Report). SNN47128.

<11> Kenyon J.R., 2008, Castles, Town Defences and Artillery Fortifications in the United Kingdom and Ireland: A Bibliography 1945 - 2006, (unchecked) (Bibliography). SNN106309.

<12> Lanning K.; Pearson V.; Walker D., 1995, Castles in Northamptonshire: A Resource Pack for Teachers, (unchecked) (Educational Resource Pack). SNN75536.

<13> Cathcart King, D J, 1983, Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume II : Norfolk-Yorkshire and the islands, p. 318 (Book). SNN112899.

<14> Seaman, BH, 1969, Field investigators comments, F1 BHS 06-FEB-69 (Notes). SNN111907.

<15> RCHME, Undated, RCHME Inventory: Northamptonshire II (Central), 889792 (Archive). SNN112900.

<16> Dryden H.E.L., 1842-1895, Dryden Collection, DR/25/237/4-9 (Archive). SNN115.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:56PM