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COMBE MOTTE
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An 11th - 12th century earthwork featuring a round mound
surrounded by a shallowish ditch built on the flood plain near to the confluence
of the Hindwell and the Lugg rivers. The mound is 1.6m high above the ditch
and about 20m diameter and there are traces of a possible bailey to the E side.
Historians are unsure as to whether it was a castle or a fortified house. The
Doomsday book mentions a manor called Querentune which has been associated with
Combe and at that time it was part of the estates of Osbern le Scrob of Richards
Castle, who's father Richard had been given lands here in the 1040's by Edward
the Confessor. Presumably its location did not require a higher mound, and it
would also indicate that this valley was farmed and productive. Records refer
to one John de Combe as a witness to some charters concerning Presteigne in
1230, 1244 and 1249, but do not mention a castle although one seems likely.
Its destruction might have occured at the same time as nearby Presteigne in
1262 or soon afterwards. It can be reached by following the small track immediately
on the east side of Combe bridge.