Mound, probably Roman tumulus, and public gardens. The Dane John mound is the remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle centred on the Dane John mound. It is likely that the motte and bailey castle was constructed just after the Norman Conquest, c. 1066-70 and was subsequently abandoned at about the turn of the 11th-12th century in favour of the new stone-built Norman keep, the new Canterbury Castle. Summary from record TR 15 NW 51: High mound within the line of the city wall, perhaps of Roman origins, and reused as a castle motte. In more recent times the mound has been refashioned as a landscape feature. It has been suggested that its origins are a Romano-British burial mound of the 2nd Century but it is just within the line of the city walls. The mound appears to have been re-formed to create a motte which was the earliest castle site within Canterbury. The name Dane John appears to be a corruption of donjon. Archaeological excavations in 1981 produced evidence for the earthwork enclosure to the north and further work in 1989 suggested another bailey-like enclosure to the south outside the line of the city wall. The mound was raised in 1790 when Alderman James Simmons transformed it into a feature for a pleasure garden.