Probable medieval motte, Purleigh Mount, Purleigh (EHER 7711)

A moated, flat-topped mound surrounded by ditch with strong counterscarp rampart, except on the north side. The feature was first interpreted as an Iron Age earthwork, but has since been suggested to be a motte, though 'there is no indication of there ever having been an accompanying bailey'. It may have originated in the 12th century, and 13th century pottery has been recovered from the feature. Modern disturbance to the top of the mound is the result of the construction of a Second World War home guard shelter, see EHER 81713. The site has been subject to several surveys and site visits, and is a scheduled ancient monument.

A flat-topped moated mound about 250 ft in diameter, surrounded by a ditch with a strong rampart on the counter-scarp, except on the north side. There are slight indications of two ramparts extending towards the north. <1> The earliest published theory is that this was a British (Iron Age) earthwork. <2> Later it was suggested to be a Danish or Saxon motte, or a 'moot hill'. <3> <4> <5> A moated mound south of Purleigh Hall. Scheduled. <6> July 1975. Field visit. Suggested to be small castle with a bailey to the west. <7> <8> 1981. Field survey. A flattened circular mound, surrounded by a ditch and an outer bank, with traces of associated outer earthworks to the north was surveyed with the help of Leicester University students. The site, adjacent to the hall and church, is now surrounded by fields and is tree-covered. There is substantial modem disturbance (see EHER 81713) near the centre of the mound. Dominating the Dengie peninsula the mound may be seen as a small earthwork castle comparable to other known slight adulterine castles such as that at Bentley, Hampshire. <9> <10> <11> 1983. Field visit. The removal of a tree from the NE quadrant of the mound revealed medieval pottery. A subsequent site visit showed this came from a shallow trench that could represent a backfilled palisade slot. A rim sherd was found from the mound edge in the NW quadrant and a sagging base from a mole hill on the west counterscarp. All the pottery was tempered with medium sand and quartz, some mica and black flecks. Two Roman tile fragments, six oyster shells and burnt flint nodules and apparently burnt mudstone fragments were also found. The burning is likely to be recent. The pottery is comparable to, though not precisely paralleled by, Mill End material spanning the late 12th-mid/late 13th century. <12> Note: the possible 'backfilled palisade slot' could be the 'trench-like' entrance to the Second World War home guard shelter mentioned by <16> (see EHER 81713). 1983. Desk-based assessment. The mound is suggested to be a motte with an attached bailey which was constructed during the anarchy of 1135-1153. It was possibly demolished, according to this source, in the early 13th century, after a change of ownership in 1233. This source gives a documentary background to the site. <13> 1985. Scheduled Ancient Monument. <14> <15> Note: <14> and <15> may be referring to the same material; <15> was provided by NRHE data transfer. July 1987. Field survey. Purleigh Mount is a small motte - overall some 80m in diameter - situated at the southern end of a short ridge overlooking the Dengie peninsula. There is no indication of there ever having been an accompanying bailey; the two 'rampart spurs' noted by <1> on the north side of the motte appear to be natural features. The motte has a flat, somewhat oval, top, approximately 30m by 40m and survives to a maximum height of 2.3m above the silted bottom of its encircling ditch. An outer bank, lower than the central mound, is best preserved on the west. Elsewhere this bank lies generally outside the scheduled area and has been destroyed to varying degrees; in the south it is still being eroded by continuing arable cultivation. Around the north of the motte the bank may possibly have been lost to surface gravel quarrying at some time past, and in the NE a building platform has truncated its line. There are two 'modern' breaks through the bank in the SSE and SWW, the latter possibly being to allow cattle access to the moat to water from an old road that ran up to and to the north of the monument from Howegreen in the west. What is probably the original entrance to the motte survives in the NW of the site as a broad break in the outer bank. Since the ditch is continuous, access on to the mound itself was presumably via a wooden causeway or drawbridge. Although the motte is situated on top of a ridge, it seems likely that ground seepage may have kept the ditch waterfilled; very shallow water lay in the SE arc at the time of survey, whilst a pond close to Purleigh Hall (EHER 45836) only a short distance to the north retains water all year round. The modern disturbance on the top of the motte is the result of the construction here during the Second World War of a home guard shelter (EHER 81713). Although recently filled in, the entrance is still discernible as a trench-like affair on the west side of the mound, and debris is widely scattered. A small hole on the east side of the motte is to be equated with a tree hole from which 13th century pottery was recovered in 1983. Surveyed at 1:2500. Transferred to MSD. <16> 1988. Watching brief. A few sherds of pottery were found. <17> See also <18>. Area = 0.04 Site Assessment: Mound, ditch and bank tree-covered but not fenced so are open to grazing cattle. No threat apparent in 1975 though future tree clearance and ploughing would not be difficult. Central area of platform damaged by air raid shelter/ammunition store. Bad cattle erosion reported in 1980. Tree removed in 1983. <7> Medieval pottery found at Purleigh 'represents the only datable material from the coastal group of small castles in Essex'. <3>