Page 15 - John Barber's Oakham Castle and its archaeology
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The only scientifically explored part of the bank was a small section cut by Mr P W Gathercole in 1954
immediately to the west of the main entrance to the Castle; it was a mixture of clay, marl and scattered stones.
The banks surrounding the outer enclosure (Cutt’s Close) are very unlikely ever to have been crowned by a
wall. Although probably correct in their alignment, they must be suspect in their size, as it is said that they were
made up to their present dimensions by the addition of much soil dug out during the making of the Melton to
Oakham coal canal in the early years of the nineteenth century. They are much more regular in their
conformation than those around the inner bailey, and appear to be composed of more homogenous marl than
observed by Mr Gathercole. By way of an aside, it is also said that the trees on top of these outer banks were
planted at the instigation of Dr John Doncaster, Headmaster of Oakham School from 1808-46, so that the boys
might repair there from the Old School (now known as the Shakespeare Centre) in the very hot days of summer
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to construe their Latin and Greek verses.
Fig. 6. A conjectural reconstruction of an early motte and bailey.
Fig. 7. An annotated map of the Oakham Castle site showing
the inner bailey earthworks (after Hartley 1983, 32, fig. 31).
11 Gathercole 1958; see Appendix B.
12 It is now known, from the evidence of Cullingworth’s 1787 map and the 1836 enclosure map, that certainly the western bank of Cutts Close is a
result of the northward extension of Church Street following enclosure in the 1830s; this coincides with Dr Doncaster’s headmastership.
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