Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A motte and bailey seen as a cropmark/soilmark seen located to the west of Sandwich on Mary-le-Bone Hill. The site was mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Richborough Environs Project.

Monument Types

• MOTTE AND BAILEY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Full description

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Well defined circular ditch (motte?) with less distinct 'bailey' (also circular) attached to it and centred on TR 32235803: Within the 'bailey' is the site of a probable 13th century chapel (see TR 35 NW 47). (1)

The cropmark remains of the large, probably Medieval, motte and bailey described by the previous authority were seen centred at TR 3224 5808 and mapped at 1:2500 scale from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Richborough Environs Project. (1-3)

The site appears as a low circular mound surrounded by a broad ditch, possibly a motte, with a diameter of 68m. In the centre of the mound there is a rectilinear depression synonymous with a building foundation, however, on photographs taken in 1945 a small rectilinear structure thought to be a WWII gun pit was noted at this location. It is not certain if the two features are connected with one another.

Attached to the southern side of this enclosure is a second sub-circular enclosure with a broad ditch measuring 73m x 98m. To the west of the supposed bailey and to a lesser extent to the north-east of the supposed motte are a number of interconnecting ditches which may be associated with the drainage/water supply to the site. The site is low lying, occupying a low promontory on the well drained Thanet Beds to the west of Sandwich. Despite its name, at no point does the `hill rise to the height of the 5m contour. (4)

The name Mary-le-Bone Hill is a recent corruption, the site being called Marrowbone hill on the 1871 OS plan. On the south-western mound the SMR notes the possible foundations of a 13th century chapel which include large flints and fragments of Carrara marble which has most probably been robbed from the Roman fort at Richborough. This may have been the early site of The Maldry, a Sandwich leper hospital or possibly connected with an enclosure by Leeds Priory in the early 14th century which was the subject of a law suit.

There was no surface evidence at all of the castle at the site. AP evidence has since been followed up. Photographs since 1945 show the deterioration of the site from apparent slight earthwork remains to the survival of the site as a soil mark in photographs from 1979. No more recent photographs were available to consult. (5)

In 2006 two resistivity surveys were carried out at the site by Dover Archaeological Group. The second succeeded in plotting the form of the site, which consisted of a circular enclosure to the northeast, a kidney shaped enclosure attached to the southwest side of the first and a much larger curvilinear enclosure extending from the first around the second. The full extent of the largest ditch was not determined. A number of anomalies within these enclosures were also detected. (6)

Clear on the 2007 Google Earth image. In addition to the motte and bailey, a larger curvilinear ditch may be an outer bailey.

<1> AP ( RAF 541/513 4008-9 10-MAY-19505) (OS Card Reference). SKE55407.

<2> AP ( RAF 106G/LA/90 4052 04-JAN-1945) (OS Card Reference). SKE55406.

<3> AP (RAF 106G UK 1131 F3041; 17 1 46) (OS Card Reference). SKE34035.

<3> AP (RAF 58/1111 0012 050MAY-1953) (OS Card Reference). SKE55408.

<4> 1990, English Heritage Alternative Action Report (Unspecified Type). SKE55409.

<6> Dover Archaeological Group, 2006, Mary-Le-Bone Hill, Sandwich, Kent: Geophysical Resistivity Survey (Unpublished document). SKE17705.

Sources and further reading