What is a ringwork?

What a ringwork is

The bank was topped by a timber palisade or, more rarely, a stone wall, and the ditch was usually substantial. Historic England dates ringworks from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century and records about 200 in England, fewer than 60 of them with baileys, while a survey published in 1969 by King and Alcock identified 198 ringwork castles in England and Wales, with about 50 more possible sites. Ringworks served as military strongholds and also as defended aristocratic or manorial residences. Some were later converted into mottes by filling in the interior.

How ringworks look on LiDAR

A ringwork shows as a ring of bank with an external ditch enclosing a small, roughly level interior, sometimes with a bailey enclosure attached. Sky-view factor shows the ditch as a dark ring, and a local relief model shows the height of the bank and any building platforms inside. Hillshade from several directions helps to judge whether the interior is level, as in a ringwork, or raised into a mound, as in a motte.

See LiDAR visualisations explained for what each method shows.

What can look like one

Small Iron Age and Romano-British enclosures, small hillforts, moated sites and later animal pounds can look very like a ringwork. Dating a ringwork usually needs documentary evidence or excavation.

Protection

Many ringworks are scheduled monuments, protected in England by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and in Wales by the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023.

Examples on the LiDAR

Where they are

Counties with the most ringworks that have a page here.

More examples