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Cof Cymru: National Historic Assets of Wales · Wales

Cottrell Castle Mound

St. Nicholas and Bonvilston, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales

The record

Designation
Scheduled monument
Site type
Motte
Period
Medieval
Date of designation
10 March 1975
Community
St. Nicholas and Bonvilston
Unitary authority
Vale of Glamorgan
Country
Wales
Coordinates (centre of the scheduled area)
51.46205, -3.32440
SAM number
GM364
Cadw record number
3686

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Shown on 5 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1636 "Cornubia : Devonia, Somersetus, Dorcestria, Wiltonia, Glocestria ..." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record in Cadw's own full report ↗

Cadw's description

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a motte and ditch, dating to the medieval period (c. 1066 -1540 AD). A motte is a large conical or pyramidal mound of soil and/or stone, usually surrounded by either a wet or dry ditch, and surmounted by a tower constructed of timber or stone.

Cottrell consists of a flat-topped mound 35m in diameter with the top measuring 21m in diameter. The sides are of varying height and steepness; on the west the side is 2.5m high with no ditch. On the north side it is 2m high with a 5m wide berm and then a further drop of 1.5m. The east side is less well defined, with a 2.2m height, then a 4m wide berm and a further 1m drop - this side is steep. The south side is less steep and measures 1.5m high with a ditch 1.5m wide by 1m deep outside it.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of medieval defensive practices. The monument is well-preserved and an important relic of the medieval landscape. It retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of both structural evidence and intact associated deposits.

The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Designated Historic Asset GIS Data, The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), 2026-09-07, licensed under the Open Government Licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ Cadw, the Welsh Historic Environment Service · Open Government Licence v3.0
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