What is recorded here

Mounsey Castle is a Norman motte and bailey in Somerset where a tall earth mound still stands beside a northern outwork, preserving the brutal simplicity of eleventh or twelfth-century defence. It is not a proud stone palace but a shaped landscape, likely built by men who understood that height, distance and timber could control a valley. The survival of both parts suggests more than a temporary camp; it reveals a deliberate military address made from soil itself.

The National Heritage List for England records Mounsey Castle and an associated outwork 100m to the north as a scheduled monument. The saved point comes from the centre supplied by the official record. Listing does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Mounsey Castle was built in the 13th century, likely by the de Clinton family, and held strategic importance as a defensive stronghold in the Vale of Mow. It is remembered for its well-preserved earthworks and historical association with medieval military architecture.

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