Wrangle King’s Hill combines elements of both the Manwarings and Wybert’s Castle in what is called a motte and bailey castle.
A motte is a mound, the strongpoint of the castle where the tower or keep stood, and a bailey is the defended flat area below the mound for the domestic buildings.
This form of castle was common in England between the late 11th and early 12th centuries. A Saxon monk wrote at the time, that William the Conqueror “caused castles to be built, which were a sore burden to the poor”.
The Wrangle estate was quite important, and the castle would have been its center. The King in the name was probably James I, who acquired the site in the 17th century.
At Wrangle the motte is on the north and is a roughly circular raised platform.
King’s Hill was a lot bigger than it looks today and records from 1911 show that it had a large complex of earthworks around the motte and bailey which may represent outbuildings or animal pens. In its day the castle would have looked very formidable, but the mound and ramparts have eroded, and the strong wooden walls have rotted away, with the passage of time.
Wrangle King’s Hill Location
King’s Hill is located in Wrangle, Lincolnshire PE22 9, UK
District: Boston
Parish: Wrangle
Approximate Geographical coordinates 53.0561 0.1086