Monument record MDO4852 - Iron Age hill fort, Sturminster Newton Castle

A large, curving bank and ditch across the spur of land are thought to be prehistoric and are interpreted as the defences of an Iron Age promontory fort. The area enclosed by the bank and ditch is around 4 acres. The crescent-shaped bank is 40 feet wide and 6 to 10 feet high with a flat top 15-20 feet wide. The external ditch is 50 to 60 feet wide and 16 to 20 feet deep, with a flat bottom 10-15 feet wide.

STURMINSTER NEWTON 'CASTLE' (784134), 60 yds. S.W. of (1), stands on a steep-sided triangular spur of Corallian Limestone and commands the crossing of the R. Stour. Within the area of the 'castle' stood the manor house of the manor of Newton, which Glastonbury Abbey acquired in 968 A.D. and retained until the Dissolution [Hutchins IV, 336; The Great Chartulary of Glastonbury (Somerset Record Society, 1952)].

A roofless building of three storeys (Plate 65), with rubble walls with ashlar dressings, probably of the 14th century appears to be the service range at the S. end of the former manor house hall, perhaps with the solar in the upper storey. Level ground to S.W. of the ruin may well be the site of the manor house garden. On the other hand, the massive crescent-shaped bank and ditch, which separate the angular spur from the land to the W., are almost certainly prehistoric; they probably represent the defences of an Iron Age promontory fort with an area of about 4 acres.

The crescent-shaped bank is 40 ft. wide and 6 ft. to 10 ft. high with a flat top 15 ft. to 20 ft. wide. The external ditch is 50 ft. to 60 ft. wide and 16 ft. to 20 ft. deep, with a flat bottom 10 ft. to 15 ft. wide. The spur to the N.E. of the bank and ditch is divided into two parts, separated by a gully which runs back into the spur from the centre of the S.E. side. The gully, in part natural and much disturbed by modern quarrying on the S.W., was the mediaeval entrance to the site, and is still so used. S.W. of the gully is a level area intersected by slight scarps of no significant pattern. The area N.E. of the gully is divided into two parts; in the S.W. is an approximately rectangular yard, bounded on the S.W. and N.W. by low banks and on the N.E. by a ditch or sunken footpath, 2 ft. deep, with a slight bank inside it; in the S.E. is a circular flat-topped mound, 55 ft. in diameter and 3 ft. high. An entrance to the yard passes through the bank on the S.W. side. On the N.E. side of the yard, the remains of the 14th-century manor house consist of four massive walls of coursed rubble rising almost to the level of the former roof. The S. wall of the building, 3 ft. thick and rising to a gable, retains near the centre of the ground floor a doorway with a chamfered two-centred head, continuous jambs and a segmental rear-arch. On the first floor, immediately over the doorway, the presumed solar had a fireplace with a segmental head and a rough relieving-arch: to the W. of the fireplace is a doorway with a chamfered two-centred head; to the E. is a blocked opening with a chamfered square head; above these openings are the beam holes for the second floor. The E. wall, 2 1/2 ft. thick, has on the ground floor a small square-headed window with a holow-chamfered stone surround; on the first floor are traces of another window. At the S.E. corner is the stump of a 2 1/2 ft. wall which formerly continued the line of the S. wall; 15 ft. to the N. is the stump of another wall, parallel with the first and 1 1/2 ft. thick. Further N., the E wall is slightly less than 2 ft. thick and contains a doorway with a two-centred, chamfered and hollow-chamfered head and continuous jambs; this appears to be the E. doorway of the hall, now gone, presumably opening into a screens-passage. A similar doorway occurs at the W. end of the supposed screens-passage. Further S., the W. wall of the building contains a fireplace with a four-centred head, on the ground floor, and traces of a blocked doorway in the upper storey. The N. wall, which divides the supposed screens-passage from the service range, has four doorways with chamfered two-centred heads and continuous jambs. The easternmost doorway, taller than the others and with a step in the threshold, probably gave access to a stair leading to the upper storey. The other doorways presumably led in the usual way to buttery, pantry and kitchen.

N.E. of the building, near the N.E. tip of the spur, is an area in which several low banks and scarps indicate former buildings. Quantities of 17th-century and later pottery have been found on the site. A trench cut in 1960 cross the interior of the spur and through the bank and ditch was not deep enough to show any walls; early post-mediaeval pottery was found. <3>

There is an irregular raised platform at A and a fairly strong bank with a fragment of a ditch to the north runs from B to C.<4>

A so-called 'castle' at Sturminster Newton. Here not only is there a respectable documentary history of a manor house, as well as a standing 14th century structure, but there is also an impressive set of large earthworks including a bank and ditch cutting off a spur. Fieldwork has led to the interpretation of the site as a small prehistoric promontory fort, which was later used as a Medieval manorial site. <5>

This probable Iron Age promontory fort at Sturminster Newton, subsequently adapted as a Medieval manorial site, is locally known as the 'Castle'; it is incorrectly described as 'Motte & Bailey' on Ordnance Survey maps. The earthworks and building remains are generally as described by RCHM (2), but due to the erection of farm buildings within the site and its adaption as 'Castle Farm' working area, considerable erosion and obliteration of the ancillary earthworks is now taking place. However the impressive crescent-shaped bank and ditch demarcating the west side of the site is in a relatively good state of preservation. (See photograph).

Structural remains of the 14th century manor house survive as three walls up to roof height, but are in a very friable condition, and partly ivy-covered. (See photographs). Fragments of Medieval and later pottery occur as surface finds. The bank noted by Authority 4 appears to be a lynchet field bank, and not contemporary or analogous with the principal earthworks to the east. Similar features are evident about 150.0m. Westwards on a gentle valley slope, and are plainly of agricultural origin. Earthworks and ruin, partially visible on OS air photographs. Divorced Survey at 1:2500 on permatrace. <6>

Listed by Cathcart King. <7>

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 6 inches to 1 mile, 1891 (Map). SDO17338.

(ST 78371341) Ditch (NR)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed. A Select List: 1956-1962 (Monograph). SDO12558.

‘STURMINSTER NEWTON
NEWTON CASTLE ST 784135 Earthworks of uncertain date.’

<3> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 2, 282-283 (Monograph). SDO136.

'(47) STURMINSTER NEWTON 'CASTLE' (784134), 600 yds. S.W. of (1), stands on a steep-sided triangular spur of Corallian Limestone and commands the crossing of the R. Stour.

Within the area of the 'castle' stood the manor house of the manor of Newton, which Glastonbury Abbey acquired in 968 A.D. and retained until the Dissolution (Hutchins IV, 336); The Great Cartulary of Glastonbury (Somerset Record Society, 1952), I, 60). A roofless building of three storeys (Plate 65), with rubble walls with ashlar dressings, probably of the 14th century, appears to be the service range at the S. end of the former manor house hall, perhaps with the solar in the upper storey. Level ground to S.W. of the ruin may well be the site of the manor house garden. On the other hand, the massive crescent-shaped bank and ditch, which separate the triangular spur from the land to the W., are almost certainly prehistoric; they probably represent the defences of an Iron Age promontory fort with an area of about 4 acres.

The crescent-shaped bank is 40 ft. wide and 6 ft. to 10 ft. high with a flat top 15 ft. to 20 ft. wide. The external ditch is 50 ft. to 60 ft. wide and 16 ft. to 20 ft. deep, with a flat bottom 10 ft. to 15 ft. wide. The spur to the N.E. of the bank and ditch is divided into two parts, separated by a gully which runs back into the spur from the centre of the S.E. side. The gully, in part natural and much disturbed by modern quarrying on the S.W., was the mediaeval entrance to the site, and is still so used. S.W. of the gully is a level area intersected by slight scarps of no significant pattern. The area N.E. of the gully is divided into two parts; in the S.W. is an approximately rectangular yard, bounded on the S.W and N.W. by low banks and on the N.E. by a ditch or sunken footpath, 2 ft. deep, with a slight bank inside it; in the S.E. is a circular flat-topped mound, 55 ft. in diameter and 3 ft. high. An entrance to the yard passes through the bank on the S.W. side.

On the N.E. side of the yard, the remains of the 14th-century manor house consist of four massive walls of coursed rubble rising almost to the level of the former roof. The S. wall of the building, 3 ft. thick and rising to a gable, retains near the centre of the ground floor a doorway with a chamfered two-centred head, continuous jambs and a segmental rear-arch. On the first floor, immediately over the doorway, the presumed solar had a fireplace with a segmental head and a rough relieving-arch; to the W. of the fireplace is a doorway with a chamfered two-centerd head; to the E. is a blocked opening with a chamfered square head; above these openings are the beam holes for the second floor. The E. wall, 2½ ft. thick, has on the ground floor a small square-headed window with a hollow-chamfered stone surround; on the first floor are traces of another window. At the S.E. corner is the stump of a 2½
ft. wall which formerly continued the line of the S. wall; 15 ft. to the N. is the stump of another wall, parallel with the first and 1½ ft. thick. Further N., the E. wall is slightly less than 2 ft. thick and contains a doorway with a two-centred, chamfered and hollow chamfered head and continuous jambs; this appears to be the E. doorway of the hall, now gone, presumably opening into a screens-passage. A similar doorway occurs at the W. end of the supposed screens-passage. Further S., the W. wall of the building contains a fireplace with a four-centred head, on the ground floor, and traces of a blocked doorway in the upper storey. The N. wall, which divides the supposed screens-passage from the service range, has four doorways with chamfered two-centred heads and continuous jambs. The easternmost doorway, taller than the others and with a step in the threshold, probably gave access to a stair leading to the upper storey. The other doorways presumably led in the usual way to buttery, pantry and kitchen.

N.E. of the building, near the N. E. tip of the spur, is an area of which several low banks and scarps indicate former buildings. Quantities of 17th-century and later pottery have been found on the site. A trench cut in 1960 across the interior of the spur and through the bank and ditch was not deep enough to show any walls; only post-medieval pottery was found'

<4> Royal Air Force, 11 APR 1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1974 1163-4 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17548.

<5> Taylor, C C, 1974, Fieldwork in Medieval Archaeology, 72 (Monograph). SDO17547.

'The same feature occurs at the so-called 'castle' at Sturminster Newton, in Dorset (32). Here not only is there a respectable documentary history of a manor house, as well as a standing fourteenth-century structure, but there is also an impressive set of large earthworks including a bank and ditch cutting off a spur. However, once more, careful fieldwork has led to the interpretation of the site as a small prehistoric promontory fort, which was later used as a medieval manorial site.'

<6> Stone, J W, Field Investigators Comments JWS, F1 JWS 05-MAR-79 (Unpublished document). SDO11902.

<6.1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1962 (Map). SWX1540.

<6.2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 1:50,000, Sheet 194 (Map). SWX1132.

<6.3> Ordnance Survey, OS 74/059/278-79 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17549.

<7> Cathcart-King, D J, 1983, Castellarium anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands (Monograph). SDO16340.

<8> Durkin, D, 2005, Sturminster Newton 'castle' SMR 129. A study and geophysical survey of a 14th century manorial site set within an Iron Age hill fort (Unpublished document). SDO14381.

<9> Robinson, S, 2007, Sturminster Newton Castle, Sturminster Newton, Dorset. Minor Works: Negative Archaeological Watching Brief Statement (Unpublished document). SDO14382.

<10> Lock, G, and Ralston, I, 2017, Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland [ONLINE], EN3608 (Digital archive). SDO17130.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202251 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 3:15PM