The Dane John Mound

The Dane John Mound. . The mound was first created in the first or second century as one of several burial mounds south-east of the early Roman town. By the time the Roman town walls were constructed (AD 270-90) it was still of sufficient size to be incorporated into the southern comer of the defences., Soon after the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, Canterbury surrendered to William the Conquer who established a fortification here. The first keeper of the motte-and-bailey castle was Hamo, son of Vitalis, a Norman knight who appears on the Bayeux Tapestry. Traditionally the site for this first castle was considered to be the Dane John mound, the name being a corruption of the Norman word for a motte, “donjon”, and archaeological excavations have uncovered sections of the bailey ditch both and outside the walls., The castle probably lasted for less than twenty years as in 1086 Domesday Book mentions the contraction of a new royal castle. By the time its massive stone keep was complete (by 1120) the motte-and-bailey fortification had probably been long redundant. The mound then formed port of the Manor of the Dungeon, whose extensive lands included the remains of three other Roman burial mounds known then as the Dungeon Hills. The area was let as pasture and later used by the citizens of Canterbury for recreation, games and sports. Clothes were put to dry and bleach on the mound., The mound was put to military use again during the Civil War (1642-64) when gun-emplacement was created on it and in 1643 the Dungeon was watched day and night. The firing of the guns broke glass windows in Wincheap and a resident of a wall turret received compensation because the shooting of the brass gun made his dwelling shake. In the early eighteenth century a windmill stood on the mound., In 1700 Alderman James Simmons began his improvements of the Dane Jets Gardens. As part of that work the mound was heightened, probably by about five metres and a spiral pathway was created to its summit. The monument was added in 1803., The Dane John mound has been the central feature of historic garden for over two hundred years and an important Canterbury landmark for around two millennia.