Bincknoll Castle

Bincknoll Castle stands on a triangular promontory beneath the Ridgeway in Wiltshire. The steep slopes give strong natural defence on three sides, with only the southern approach left open. Archaeologists once thought it an Iron Age hillfort, but pottery found there dates to Roman times or later. Recent geophysical work aims to settle the question of its age. The earthworks now visible belong to a Norman motte-and-bailey castle built by Gilbert of Breteuil after the Conquest. The motte, now reduced by quarrying, measures about fifty-two metres across and three metres high. A deep ditch surrounds it, and the inner enclosure is divided from the outer by a bank and ditch four metres high. A causeway provides the only entrance. Traces of the deserted hamlet of Bincknoll lie in the dip to the north. The scheduled monument sits west of Wroughton and north of Broad Hinton. Public footpaths lead to the summit at 195 metres above sea level. Barbury Castle hill fort lies three and a half miles to the south-east. Visitors can walk the earthworks and see how the site once commanded the surrounding landscape.