Keep of Tote Copse castle, 400m north of Decoy Farmhouse

Heritage listing

Details The monument includes part of the buried remains of Tote Copse castle, the rest of which was seriously damaged (having been partially excavated) in 1962. The surviving mound measures 20m by 10m and stands some 2.4m high. It represents part of a large mound, or motte, of clay which had been raised around the base of a central building of the castle, the keep. The foundations and walls of the western side of the keep within the mound comprise shaped blocks of Mixon limestone, with more carefully carved Caen stone for the slim buttresses which strengthened the wall. The eastern corner of the keep had been robbed of its stone during the Middle Ages and does not survive. In the cellar of the keep was a well 8.5m deep, and at the south-western corner was a little-used cess pit, both integral parts of the keep. Historical evidence and artefacts from the excavation showed that the castle had been built in the first half of the 12th century by Seffrid de Escures, the Bishop of Chichester, at this site near his palace and at the hub of his Aldingbourne estate. MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. Legacy The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system. Legacy System number: 12886 Legacy System: RSM

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.