MM026

The Berries Mound & Bailey Castle  

12/09/1933  

Designated  

Monmouthshire  

Caldicot  

348735  

189518  

Defence  

Motte  

Medieval  

The following provides a summary description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a motte and bailey castle, a military stronghold built during the medieval period. The site consists of a large steep-sided mound, 6m to 7m high in the NE corner of a roughly circular bailey. The motte has a flat summit and is surrounded by a flat-bottomed ditch varying between 2m and 4m wide and 1m to 2m deep. The bailey is cut on the W side by a deep modern drainage ditch. On the S side the bailey is defined by a low bank, 0.6m high on the outside and 0.2m high on the inside. On the N side there is a short stretch of bank, 0.5m-1m high, immediately W of the ditch surrounding the motte. On the SE side the bank is 1.5m high. Half way along the E side is a gap in the bank and a causeway across the ditch. The to N of the causeway the bank is 3m high and terminates at the ditch surrounding the motte. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of medieval defensive organisation. The well-preserved monument forms an important element within the wider medieval context and the structure itself may be expected to contain archaeological information relating to chronology, building techniques and functional detail. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.