We have been given a detailed elevation map of the castle, created from a LIDAR survey taken in 2023. LIDAR is effective at finding the height of the ground (despite tree cover) in high resolution.
The contours are derived from the LIDAR data. In this view, they are superposed on a section of the OpenStreetMap.
The vertical pitch of the contours is 0.2m and the pitch of the blue grid is 10m.
The motte and the Square Tower are clearly visible. The banks and ditches are not as high or deep as they would have been in Norman times, and the modern accessible entrance path breaches the old northern banks at their eastern ends. We can see the shallow ditch that is all that remains of a defensive separation between keep and bailey in the castle’s early history.
The wall jutting into the south west side of the bailey is relatively modern.