2015

SP8306 : Cymbeline's Castle - Trees and shrubs

taken 9 years ago, near to Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire, England

Cymbeline's Castle - Trees and shrubs
Cymbeline's Castle - Trees and shrubs
It is not possible to enter the area which is the site of the ancient Cymbeline's Castle, firstly there is a barbed wire fence preventing access - and even if you did manage to get past that obstacle, you would be met with impenetrable undergrowth, shrubs and trees. It's a pity that this interesting Scheduled Ancient Monument is not more accessible.
Cymbeline's Castle & Beacon Hill

Adjacent to Beacon Hill to the west is an ancient Motte & Bailey system known as Cymbeline's Castle (or Mount). Any connection with the ancient British king - whom Shakespeare wrote a play about - is I think speculative at best. However it has been suggested that the nearby Kimbles (Little & Great) are named after him, so it does at least have some plausible link back to pre-Roman times. Although Shakespeare used the name Cymbeline (for his entirely fictional tale), this 1st Century king who ruled a large area of Southern England before the Roman invasion, is more generally known historically as Cunobelinus, though he is known also by various other names such as Cynfelyn and Kymbelinus.
The motte and bailey(s) are overgrown with impenetrable scrub - and surrounded by barbed wire, so access to the site is unfortunately not possible, however if you scale Beacon Hill, the views down to it are very good.
Cymbeline's Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and there is an extensive and informative write up on the EH website here LinkExternal link
Beacon Hill itself looks an eminently suitable place for a hill fort, and it too is a Scheduled Ancient Monument as it is the site of a Bronze Age Bowl Barrow see LinkExternal link
Just south of the barrow is another S.A.M., A Pillow Mound LinkExternal link thought to be associated with the breeding of rabbits on the hill.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rob Farrow and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Village, Rural settlement Place: Ellesborough Primary Subject: Motte other tags: Motte and Bailey Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Trees [10] · Cymbeline's Castle [8] · Barbed Wire Fence [3] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
+
+
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
TIP: Click the map for more Large scale mapping
Grid Square
SP8306, 73 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Rob Farrow   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 18 April, 2015   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 28 April, 2015
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SP 8329 0638 [10m precision]
WGS84: 51:44.9960N 0:47.6929W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SP 8331 0640
View Direction
Southwest (about 225 degrees)
Clickable map
+
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
Image classification(about): Geograph
This page has been viewed about 259 times
You are not logged in login | register