Castle Neroche

Location map|Somerset
label=
background=white
lat=50.9361
long=-3.0346
caption=Location of Castle Neroche within Somerset.
float=right
width=180

Castle Neroche is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle on the site of an earlier hill fort near Staple Fitzpaine, Somerset, England. The hill rises to 260 m on the northern escarpment of the Blackdown Hills. The castle was probably built by Robert of Mortain in the 11th century and probably went out of use in the 12th. [cite book |last=Adkins |first=Lesley and Roy |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A field Guide to Somerset Archeology |year=1992 |publisher=Dovecote press |location=Stanbridge |isbn=0946159947 ]

The site was excavated by Mr. H. St. George Gray in 1903.There have also been nearby archaeological finds of Mesolithic flints, and a Bronze Age copper axe found in 1857, but nothing from the Iron Age or Roman periods.

References

* Gray St G 1904. Excavation at Castle Neroche , Proc. Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 49, 23-53.
* Burrow, E J 1924. Ancient Earthworks and Camps of Somerset.
* Davidson B K 1972. Castle Neroche, an abandoned Norman fortress in South Somerset. Proc. Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, 116, 16-58.

* Somerset Historic Environment Record:
** " [http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=43844 Castle Neroche] " (record no. 43844)
** " [http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=43565 Copper Axe] " (record no. 43565)
** " [http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=55598 Mesolithic flints] " (record no. 55598)