What do you know about the ‘mysterious mound’ of Hillhouse?

The question for #AskExaminer has been posed by Stephen O’Loughlin, of Marsh, who has provided us with information about the remains of a centuries-old fortification that few will have heard of.

Tucked away at the end of Beacon Street, a cul-de-sac in Hillhouse, is a huge, tree-covered mound thought to date back 900 years or more.

It was once an impressive fortification though few will have heard of it.

“Beacon Street, being a dead end, isn’t a street that a lot of people go down,” says Mr O’Loughlin.

“But, there at the end, surrounded by a builder’s yard, outbuildings, the back of a row of scruffy shops, and topped by trees is a large mound, with steeply sloping sides.”

The view from the top of the mound on the end of Beacon Street, Hillhouse

The litter-strewn mound is circular, about 25ft high and 80ft across, and can only be accessed only from Beacon Street.

Mr O’Loughlin says that, although the mound has never been authoritatively dated, it is probably of medieval origin, more than likely a Norman ‘motte and bailey’ fortification built in the 11th or 12th century.

A motte and bailey castle was made up of a motte (or mound) which was topped with a wooden or stone ‘keep’ structure. A bailey is an enclosure build beneath the motte.

These type of castles were introduced by the Normans from France who built as many as 1000 examples in England.

A view of the tree-covered mound as seen using Google Earth

About three miles south of Beacon Street lies Castle Hill – the site of a 12th century motte and bailey castle and the site of a medieval village.

The website Gatehouse Gazetteer, which maps medieval fortifications, says the motte at Beacon Street “survives reasonably well” despite being surrounded by 19th and 20th century buildings.

It describes the site as the “earthwork remains of a possible medieval of earlier motte and bailey castle...Beacon Street marks the line of the western rampart as the ground to the west is 2-3 metres lower.”

The bottom of the mound, near the entrance to Deluxe Beds, Hillhouse

The website suggests a section which was dug into the mound revealed evidence of a palisade wall (a fence made from wooden stakes) around its crown and a timber revetment (retaining wall) against its side.

“There are features which would indicate the castle is very likely to have resembled the highly decorated examples shown on the Bayeux Tapestry.”

The remains of the medieval fortification can be found at the bottom of this Hillhouse cul-de-sac

According to Historic England, there are no known documentary references to it being a castle but that “many undocumented motte and bailey castles are known nationally.”

Residents on Beacon Street said they had no idea of the significance of the mound.

Andrew Jabbar, 52, said: “Never in nearly 50 years have I heard it mentioned as being a castle. I used to play on it 40 years ago. It’s a shame it’s not known about and that it is in such a state.”