A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



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Hill Ground, Lilbourne. 



There is now no trace of a bailey or other enclosure, or of any stonework; 

 but a bailey built entirely of stone, as at Thurnham and Binbury Castles, both in 

 Kent, may have existed on the high land to the eastward. The summit of the 

 mound may have been reached by means of a stone or wooden bridge from the 

 east. The mound on the south side has the appearance of having been interfered 

 with. 



Lilbourne: Hill Ground (3 miles E.N. E. of Rugby). — This mound 

 with apparently the remains of a small enclosure is in this odd position, 



namely, that it is within half a mile west of the mote 

 castle at Lilbourne, which is a small but powerfully- 

 built stronghold consisting of a mound and two courts ; 

 also that this mound, locally called Hill Ground, is 

 larger than the other in circumference, and of rather 

 greater height, standing on a hill some 70 feet above 

 the low land, where the castle is built. The Ordnance 

 Survey names it a tumulus. As a tumulus it would 

 have been of large size, and the apparent court on 

 the north-by-west would be out of place. But this 

 court may not have been part of the original plan, the 

 entrenchments bounding it, as will be seen by the 

 plan and sections, are in a vague state, and may not 

 be the true traces of a court. Had it been in existence before Lilbourne 

 Castle it would have formed the foundation of a much more powerful 

 stronghold than was possible on the low land, unless existing as a tumulus 

 or grave it was so respected. Another point to be noticed is that it 

 stands within a quarter of a mile of the ancient high road, Watling Street, 

 with which at some date it may have had a connexion. 



Peterborough : Toot Hill. — This mound, apparently that of a mote 

 castle, stands within the garden of the deanery. It is of no great size or 

 height, and there is now no sign of a ditch or of further 

 entrenchments. The ground on which it stands is by nature 

 slightly higher than that more to the west, but perhaps is 

 not more than 30 feet above the river Nene, which flows 

 east a quarter of a mile to the south. The summit of 

 the mound is flat and measures 42 feet in diameter. The 

 elongation towards the south-east may or may not be part borough. 



of the original plan ; it may be a portion of a rampart, or the mound may 

 once have been much larger ; as it stands in cultivated ground in the middle of 

 the city, no doubt there have been considerable changes. Grass covers the 

 sides and top, but one or two trees grow on its southern slope. In size it 



approaches Towcester, Bury Mount, and other earth- 

 works in the county. 



Preston Capes (4 J miles south of Daventry). — 

 This small entrenchment occupies a spur of land 

 jutting out northward some 550 feet above sea level, 

 and about 200 feet above the land on the north-east. 

 The entrenchment is apparently but the fragment of 

 a larger work now levelled by farming operations. 

 The mound, which is of no great size or height, is formed out of the 



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Toot Hill, Peter- 



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Preston Capes. 



