The Hewelsfield Motte is a roughly circular

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ...

, in

Hewelsfield Hewelsfield is a village in Hewelsfield and Brockweir civil parish, in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England. The village is located 6 miles south of Coleford and 5 miles north-east of Chepstow, close to the Wye valley and ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is thought to be a castle motte dating from the period 1175-1200. The site is also known as Hewelsfield Castle Tump. The motte is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, first listed on 3 April 2012, List Entry Number 1407096.

History

Historic England states ‘Documentary sources indicate that the settlement at

was forcibly depopulated to expand the hunting forest (Royal Forest of Dean) after 1066, but was reconstituted into a manor in the C12. The Norman Church can be dated stylistically to the period 1175-1200. There is no evidence to indicate when the motte castle at the centre of the village was constructed, but it is likely to date from around this time, either as part of the consolidation of the countryside or as a matter of local defence’.

Details

Hewelsfield Motte is located about southwest of St. Mary Magdalene's church at

, in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

, Gloucestershire, England. There is no evidence of any masonry structure. There are the remains of a ditch around its base, and other banks and ditches nearby may indicate the existence of a bailey. The mound and related features have been mapped by English Heritage’s Forest of Dean Mapping Project, part of its National Mapping Programme. The presence of the motte is not indicated on 1:50 000 or 1:25 000 Ordnance Survey maps. A good view of the motte can be obtained from a field gate on the corner of Church Road, opposite the church lychgate.

References

{{Reflist Castles in Gloucestershire Scheduled monuments in Gloucestershire