Site of pele tower and possible site of motte and bailey, Titlington Hall (Hedgeley)
In a survey made in 1541 it is stated that at Titlington there was a little tower the princes inheritance decayed... belonging to the suppressed monastery of Kyrkehm. (1)
The site of Titlington Hall is a nearly level piece of ground on a saddle between Titlington and Jennys Lantern Hill. Here there seems to have stood a small motte and bailey a short distance south of the present mansion with the fronty lawn on the site of the bailey. At some date in the middle ages the motte was lowered and a pele tower erected; its enclosure extended north eastwards c.75 yards where the traditional site of the gateway is marked by a small mound and
hawthorn tree. In 1745 Roger Pearson either cleared away or altered the pele and built a house whose surviving trace is the date 1745 cut at the west corner of the (present) building. (2)
NU 09871509. A little to the south of Titlington Hall is a tree planted mound 15m in diameter and 1.2m high. This appears to be the remains of the 'motte' and site of the tower. There are no visible traces of the bailey or of the mound and hawthorn tree marking the traditional site of the gateway. The ground in the vicinity of the mound is uneven but there are no definite traces of building steadings.
There are no traces of antiquity in any of the existing buildings. The date stone is as in Authority 2 and just above it is another stating that the building was rebuilt in 1824. (3)
The mound does not look as if it were ever a motte. It would, however, support a tower, and it seems likely that the whole was never more than a pele and barmkin. Surveyed at 1:2500. (4)
The listed building description for the current Titlington Hall (see 22288) notes that the tower is thought to have stood on what is now the front lawn, where parch marks sometimes show a rectangular structure. (5)
Site of motte and bailey built by Walter Espec in the late 12th or early 13th century. At some time before 1415 a small tower was built on the site of the motte. The tower was described as fortified and decayed in 1553. The site of the tower was cleared in 1745, that in turn being replaced by the present country house in 1821. (6a-b)
The site of Titlington Hall is a nearly level piece of ground on a saddle between Titlington and Jennys Lantern Hill. Here there seems to have stood a small motte and bailey a short distance south of the present mansion with the fronty lawn on the site of the bailey. At some date in the middle ages the motte was lowered and a pele tower erected; its enclosure extended north eastwards c.75 yards where the traditional site of the gateway is marked by a small mound and
hawthorn tree. In 1745 Roger Pearson either cleared away or altered the pele and built a house whose surviving trace is the date 1745 cut at the west corner of the (present) building. (2)
NU 09871509. A little to the south of Titlington Hall is a tree planted mound 15m in diameter and 1.2m high. This appears to be the remains of the 'motte' and site of the tower. There are no visible traces of the bailey or of the mound and hawthorn tree marking the traditional site of the gateway. The ground in the vicinity of the mound is uneven but there are no definite traces of building steadings.
There are no traces of antiquity in any of the existing buildings. The date stone is as in Authority 2 and just above it is another stating that the building was rebuilt in 1824. (3)
The mound does not look as if it were ever a motte. It would, however, support a tower, and it seems likely that the whole was never more than a pele and barmkin. Surveyed at 1:2500. (4)
The listed building description for the current Titlington Hall (see 22288) notes that the tower is thought to have stood on what is now the front lawn, where parch marks sometimes show a rectangular structure. (5)
Site of motte and bailey built by Walter Espec in the late 12th or early 13th century. At some time before 1415 a small tower was built on the site of the motte. The tower was described as fortified and decayed in 1553. The site of the tower was cleared in 1745, that in turn being replaced by the present country house in 1821. (6a-b)
N3160
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1958; E Geary
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