NHER 1643 (Monument record) - Earthwork of probable post medieval prospect mound known as The Mount

Bronze Age round barrow or post medieval landscape feature?
Reference to 'Barrow near the town of Docking' in (S1) says: 'In a conspicuous situation, perhaps used as a beacon'.
R. R. Clarke (NCM) thought this seemed to refer to the Mount, but he suspected that it was an 18th century landscape feature.
Was (S1) misled or does he refer to some other mound?.
A. Lawson (NAU) also thinks this is a landscape mound.

7 June 1979.
S2 refers to a field 'below the Mount', thus making an 18th century date unlikely.
However such viewpoint mounds were made also in the 17th century and this could be contemporary with the hall (AD 1612), though it is not at all certain that this spot was included in the park at that time.
E. Rose (NAU)

(S3) states that Mount Wood was planted in 1753 and given that name.
The author made a small excavation in 1971 and found building material which he takes to show that a summerhouse memorial to the Countess of Leicester, named Mount Clifford, stood on top.
She died in 1775.
E. Rose (NLA), 25 April 1997.

April 1991.
Situated in a belt of woodland, west of Docking Hall, and immediately northeast of a water tower.
A large steep sided mound about 25m in diameter 3.5m to 4m high.
Covered in ivy, nettles and elder scrub, supporting several ancient yew trees.
To east of summit a depression about 0.75m deep, about 1.50m wide, about 2m long.
No uprooting of trees or animal disturbance.
Site form in file.
H. Paterson (A&E), April 1991.

March 1994.
Mound in good condition.
A little animal disturbance to east, and regeneration of elder to south.
Owner will attend to the rabbit problem, and cut back the elder in the near future.
H. Paterson (A&E), 22 March 1994.

March 1995.
Visited to check effectiveness of Section 17 Agreement.
Mound in good condition with no evidence of rabbit disturbance.
Dead branch on old yew will be cut to lessen danger of uprooting.
Grass cover being established.
H. Paterson (A&E), 17 March 1995.

Management Agreement in file.
E. Rose (NLA)

October 1999.
Mound recently strimmed.
Branch of old yew cut back.
No animal disturbance, except for one small burrow to north.
H. Paterson (A&E), 20 October 1999.

June 2001.
Mound in good condition, recently strimmed.
A conifer has fallen across east slope, no damage to mound.
One large animal burrow to west.
This will be examined by owner and dealt with.
H. Paterson (A&E), 3 July 2001.

May 2003.
Some regeneration of elder to south and north.
A few bare soil patches, some ivy ground cover.
No evident rabbit burrows.
Much nettle growth.
Some dead branches on conifers.
Area will be strimmed shortly, and stability of trees monitored.
H. Paterson (A&E), 11 July 2003.

October 2004.
Mound in good condition, undergrowth cut.
No animal disturbance or fallen trees.
H. Paterson (A&E), 2 November 2004.

September 2007.
Section 17 management agreement renewed. See (S4).
D. Robertson (NLA), 17 October 2007.

Before March 2009. Chance finds.
Middle and Late Saxon pottery found in rabbit scrapings on top of mound.
See list in file for details.
E. Darch (HES), 13 February 2012.

September 2025. Northwest Norfolk Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AI&M) Project.
The probable post medieval prospect mound described above is visible as an earthwork on visualised lidar data from a survey flown in 2018 (S5). Given the relatively recent date of the lidar survey, it is probable that the earthwork still survives.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 8 September 2025.