Cymbeline's Castle

Cymbeline's Castle, also known as Cymbeline's Mound and Belinus's Castle, is the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle in woods north-east of Great Kimble in Buckinghamshire, England. It is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.[1]

Cymbeline's Castle
Cymbeline's Castle and Little Kimble
Highest point
Coordinates51.7499°N 0.7955°W / 51.7499; -0.7955
Geography
LocationGreat Kimble, Buckinghamshire
OS gridSP 83265 06350

The motte is about 42 metres (138 ft) in diameter and encircled on three sides by a ditch, outside which lie two additional baileys. Within the baileys have been found pottery fragments of the 13th–15th centuries, and Iron Age and Romano-British fragments have been recovered to the east of the remains.[1] A short distance to the west are remains of another motte-and-bailey castle, along with a moated enclosure and a Roman villa.[2]

The name associates it with the ancient British king Cunobeline (Cymbeline), although this may be a Victorian invention.[1] (There is also a theory that the nearby villages of Great Kimble, Little Kimble and Kimble Wick are named after Cymbeline;[3] however, this has been discredited, as the etymology of Kimble is a description of the hill rather than a name.[4])

It is said that if one runs around this mound seven times, the devil will appear.[5]

References
  1. Historic England. "Cymbeline's Castle (1013941)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  2. Historic England. "Motte and bailey castle, moated site and Roman villa immediately east of All Saint's Church (1018007)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  3. "Kimble". visitoruk.com. 2005. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  4. Hanks, Patrick; Flavia Hodges; A. D. Mills; Adrian Room (2002). The Oxford Names Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  5. Quinlan, Ray (2003), The Greater Ridgeway, pp. 150–151.
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