Details

The monument includes the ditch, bank and interior area of a circular
earthwork situated just above the floodplain of the River Arun. The
earthwork, which has an internal diameter of some 32m, survives best for a
length of 60m on the north and east sides, where the bank is 8m wide and
rises to 1.5m above the level of the interior. The bank is breached by an
original entrance some 3m wide. Elsewhere it is still clearly visible,
although often standing only 0.4m high, despite having been pushed both
outwards into the surrounding ditch and inwards into the interior.
The surrounding ditch is also best preserved on the north side, where its
outer edge is marked by the curving field boundary. Here the ditch is 6m
wide and some 2m deep, creating a total drop from bank top to ditch bottom
of 3.5m to form an impressive barrier. Even on the south and south-east
sides, where it has been largely infilled using earth from the bank, the
ditch survives to a depth of 0.3m.
The earthwork has been identified as a short-lived ringwork of the very
early Norman period, dating from the period immediately after the Conquest
and before the foundation of the nearby castle at Arundel in 1069/70. It is
only coincidentally linked with the later chalk or flint quarry on the south
side.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Ringworks are medieval fortifications built and occupied from the late
Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They comprised a small defended
area containing buildings which was surrounded or partly surrounded by a
substantial ditch and a bank surmounted by a timber palisade or, rarely, a
stone wall. Occasionally a more lightly defended embanked enclosure, the
bailey, adjoined the ringwork. Ringworks acted as strongholds for military
operations and in some cases as defended aristocratic or manorial settlements.
They are rare nationally with only 200 recorded examples and less than 60
with baileys. As such, and as one of a limited number and very restricted
range of Anglo-Saxon and Norman fortifications, ringworks are of particular
significance to our understanding of the period.

The example near Batworthpark House survives comparatively well despite
having been damaged for part of its circuit. It therefore retains
considerable archaeological potential for the recovery of dating evidence,
of evidence of structures in the interior and of evidence sealed beneath its
banks of the land use prior to its construction.

Source: Historic England