Page:VCH Suffolk 1.djvu/680

 A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK it is surrounded by a heavy vallum and deep fosse, the latter entering the fosse of the mount just below its east-to-west axis. The vallum of the bailey rises i6ft. from the interior, and has a scarp of 23ft. to the water level; this is at its highest and most perfect part. The counterscarp, 14 ft. on the east, declines to 8 ft. on the south-east, and is but 4 ft. above the water at the west ; this is partly on account of the ground sloping down towards the west — as seen in all the above measurements — and partly because the farm traffic has required a lower road level. The width of the bailey fosse averages 24 ft. and the width of the vallum 20 ft. The cutting for water to the fosse on the west is 9 ft. deep, and a ditch on the north of the mount for the overflow of the water, now largely filled up, exhibits no such work as is represented on the Ordnance Survey. On the west of the bailey an oblong area appears to have been moated at a later period. Ilketshall St. John (xvii, 4). — The ' Mount,' north-east of the village, 2 J miles south-east from Bungay. The circular mount — situated near the ancient road known as Stone Street — is 23 ft. in height ; it is surrounded by a fosse 8 ft. 6 in. deep, increasing to 1 1 ft. on the north, and attains great breadth on the west. This is situated on the north- western part of the circuit of a small horse-shoe bailey, the fosse of which enters that of the mount at the south-west, but the eastern junction has been levelled for farm-yard re- quirements. No rampart tdingS remains to the bailey, but around the southern curve and south-eastern side a low revetment surmounts the counterscarp of the fosse, rising from 5 ft. on the south-east to 8 ft. on the south-west. The land declines from the north-west to the south-east, and the higher side shows no trace of the outer bank. The fosse, represented as containing water in the Ordnance Survey, only presents this appearance after a heavy rainfall. LiDGATE (liii, 5). — Lidgate, or Lydgate, Castle, 8 1 miles south-west by west from Bury St. Edmunds, is a mount and bailey fortification differing considerably from the general features of this type. The mount is quad- rangular, with a fragment of its rampart 3 ft. high remaining on the eastern side and south-eastern corner, and another mound covering foundations. The fosse surrounding it, except at the south where the entrance is situated, is of great strength. The mount has an escarpment of 1 2 ft. at the western angle, 20ft. at the northern angle, and 35ft. on the east; the counterscarp is generally 16 ft. From the western angle the fosse of the bailey branches, 600 Thb Mount, Ilkitshall St. John