Ryton motte

The motte is a well-defined, flat-topped mound on the north side of Ryton church, within the churchyard. It measures 30 m across the base, 8 m across the top and is 4 m high. The ground falls away sharply to the north, but on the south side of the motte there are the remains of a ditch, c. 12 m wide across the top, and 2 m wide across the bottom which is c. 1.6 m below the level of the ground to the south. If a bailey ever existed then it presumably lies under the churchyard, church and even the one-time rectory. There are traces of a very narrow trench across the top of the mound, possibly the remains of an excavation into what was presumed until comparatively recently to be a Bronze Age tumulus. It is now accepted, and protected, as a motte. SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENT