Tyne and Wear HER(141): Ryton motte - Details
141
Gateshead
Ryton motte
Ryton
NZ16SE
Defence
Castle
Motte
Medieval
C11?
Earthwork
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
1511
6488
NZ15116488
<< HER 141 >> W. Hutchinson, 1787, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham II, p. 437
W. Greenwell, 1877, British Barrows p. 442
W. Bourn, 1896, History of the Parish of Ryton p. 29
W. Page, ed. 1905, Victoria County History of Durham, Vol. 1, p. 208
R. Young, 1980, An Inventory of Barrows in Co. Durham, Transactions Architectectural & Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, New Series, Vol. 5, p. 10 no. 47
N. Pevsner & E. Williamson, 1983, Buildings of England: Co. Durham, p. 393
R. Miket, 1984, The Prehistory of Tyne and Wear, p. 23
R. Young, 1980, An Inventory of Barrows in Co. Durham, Transactions Architectural & Archaeological Society Durham & Northumberland, New Series, Vol. 5, p. 10