Locking Castle
| Locking Castle | |
|
Somerset | |
|---|---|
 The site of the castle, now a golf course | |
| Type: | Motte and bailey |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST36396088 |
| Location: | 51°20’36"N, 2°54’53"W |
| Village: | Locking |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Vanished |
Locking Castle was a castle that once stood on Carberry Hill near the site of RAF Locking in Locking in the north of Somerset. It has been scheduled as an ancient monument.[1][2]
It was a motte and bailey on Carberry Hill. Excavations in 1902 identified the remains of a small stone chamber surrounded by a ditch.[3] Fragments of pottery and the remains of a sword were also found.[4] A coin from the period of King Edward IV was also uncovered.[2]
Around the site of the castle is a bank 200 feet long which is around five feet high and a ditch.[5] An area west of the inner bailey has been identified as a possible pillow mound.
The origin of the castle is unclear. It may have been part of the manor of Kewstoke or alternatively Hutton. The two manors were combined and given by King Henry I to Geoffrey de Dun. In 1214 Locking was given to Woodspring Priory and would have ceased to have military significance.[6]
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1008301: Locking Castle
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Heritage List 1008301: Motte and bailey castle and associated earthworks south of Locking Head Farm
- ↑ "Locking Castle". Archaeology Data Service. http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archsearch/record.jsf?titleId=1014156. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 192672 – Locking Castle
- ↑ "Locking Castle, Carberry Hill". Castlefacts. http://castlefacts.info/Castledetails/Castledetails3?Uin=12019. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ↑ Dunning, Robert (1995). Somerset Castles. Tiverton: Somerset Books. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-0-86183-278-1.