We’ve both had minor coughs, colds, snuffles, bad foot, bad back etc and haven’t been properly out and about together for a while. Today, feeling more sprightly we decided to go for a minor tootle and we decided to retrace a small adventure we had last year. We didn’t want to go too far and it’s just as well because we’d lost track of the days and hadn’t realised it was Sunday, and being a beautiful spring afternoon the whole world was also out for a little tootle. I guess we were the only ones in search of a vanished castle, but I had completely forgotten where it wasn’t and in fact thought my husband had forgotten where it actually was! It was extremely busy, a lot of traffic and when we reached our destination we didn’t actually stop very long, This is what I wrote about it last time:
We set off heading south down the A370 in search of Down End to join the A38, without much expectation of seeing a magnificent crenellated fortification – I think we would have heard about it earlier if it had been of significance. We were nearing Bridgwater and turned off the main road and into a lightly residential area – Down End, squished between the A38 to the west, the A39 to the south, and the M5 to the east. We crept around, by bungalows with well kept gardens, but there was no sign of anything resembling what had been the site of a motte and bailey castle. There was pasture land rising to the north, but it was semi-obscured by trees, but we reckoned it would have been a good site a thousand years ago to have some sort of fortification. Once home and having a cup of tea we discovered we were correct.
You can find a lot of information about it here:
https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/11447
It was a motte with two baileys, possibly built about 1100, possibly by the de Columbers family, on the site of an old Viking settlement and fortification. It was excavated in 1908 – maybe it’s due for a new excavation – although it was “evaluated” in 2010. The area is so near the sea, that it’s not surprising the Vikings were all along the coast and hinterland. Supposedly they also visited our little village of Uphill – but that maybe just a local legend.
My featured image is of the fabulous Goodrich Castle in Ross-on-Wye, slightly older and definitely bigger than Down End Castle.
Lois Elsden 