A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



it is surrounded by a heavy vallum and deep fosse, the latter entering the 

 fosse of the mount just below its east-to-west axis. The vallum of the bailey 

 rises i6ft. from the interior, and has a scarp of 23ft. to the water level; 

 this is at its highest and most perfect part. The counterscarp, 14 ft. on the 

 east, declines to 8 ft. on the south-east, and is but 4 ft. above the water at the 

 west ; this is partly on account of the ground sloping down towards the west 

 — as seen in all the above measurements — and partly because the farm traffic 

 has required a lower road level. The width of the bailey fosse averages 

 24 ft. and the width of the vallum 20 ft. The cutting for water to the fosse 

 on the west is 9 ft. deep, and a ditch on the north of the mount for the 

 overflow of the water, now largely filled up, exhibits no such work as is 

 represented on the Ordnance Survey. On the west of the bailey an oblong 

 area appears to have been moated at a later period. 



Ilketshall St. John (xvii, 4). — The ' Mount,' north-east of the 

 village, 2 J miles south-east from Bungay. The circular mount — situated near 

 the ancient road known as Stone Street — is 23 ft. in height ; it is surrounded 



by a fosse 8 ft. 6 in. deep, 

 increasing to 1 1 ft. on the 

 north, and attains great 

 breadth on the west. This 

 is situated on the north- 

 western part of the circuit 

 of a small horse-shoe 

 bailey, the fosse of which 

 enters that of the mount 

 at the south-west, but the 

 eastern junction has been 

 levelled for farm-yard re- 

 quirements. No rampart 

 tdingS remains to the bailey, but 

 around the southern curve 

 and south-eastern side a 

 low revetment surmounts 

 the counterscarp of the 

 fosse, rising from 5 ft. on 

 the south-east to 8 ft. on 

 the south-west. The land 

 declines from the north-west to the south-east, and the higher side shows 

 no trace of the outer bank. The fosse, represented as containing water in 

 the Ordnance Survey, only presents this appearance after a heavy rainfall. 



LiDGATE (liii, 5). — Lidgate, or Lydgate, Castle, 8 1 miles south-west by 

 west from Bury St. Edmunds, is a mount and bailey fortification differing 

 considerably from the general features of this type. The mount is quad- 

 rangular, with a fragment of its rampart 3 ft. high remaining on the eastern 

 side and south-eastern corner, and another mound covering foundations. The 

 fosse surrounding it, except at the south where the entrance is situated, is of 

 great strength. The mount has an escarpment of 1 2 ft. at the western angle, 

 20ft. at the northern angle, and 35ft. on the east; the counterscarp is 

 generally 16 ft. From the western angle the fosse of the bailey branches, 



600 



Thb Mount, Ilkitshall St. John 



