CD110

Lampeter Castle Mound  

23/09/1949  

Designated  

Ceredigion  

Lampeter  

257937  

248271  

Defence  

Motte  

Medieval  

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument comprises the remains of a motte, dating to the medieval period (c. 1066 -1540 AD). A motte is a large conical or pyramidal mound of soil and/or stone, usually surrounded by either a wet or dry ditch, though there is little trace of one here, and surmounted by a tower constructed of timber or stone. Lampeter Castle Mound, also known as Stephen’s Castle, occupies a rise at the edge of the floodplain of the Afon Dulais, not far from a route focus around a crossing of the Teifi. It is a large motte c.30m in overall diameter and c.7.0m high. As seen today, it has been truncated by the construction of the adjacent college building and by the landscaping of the college grounds; at one point it was provided with ornamental paths as part of this. OS sketches of c.1819 appear to show a small work north-west of the motte and two successive sub-rectangular enclosures to the south, though it is not clear whether these are part of the original motte complex or components of an earlier formal garden layout. The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of medieval defensive practices. The monument is well-preserved and an important relic of the medieval landscape. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both structural evidence and intact associated deposits. The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.