History

The dating of the settlement is imprecise. According to the archive records, it operated between the 10th and 13th century; according to the literature and conducted surveys, it functioned in the period from the 14th to the 16th century.

Location and description

The structure is located east of the village of Goświnowice, on the south side of the road to Jędrzychów, about 300 m east of the railway track, opposite the water station. It is overgrown with a small deciduous forest and surrounded by arable fields.

The settlement preserved as a small mound; it is in the form of an irregular circle with a diameter of about 17 m and a height of about 3 m. The inner yard is encircled by a well-preserved moat with a width of 3 m (on the east side) to 8.5 m (on the south-west side). No traces of the rampart are discernible, only the land slopes down in the direction of the moat towards the south.

The mound is damaged as a result of two contemporary excavations. The whole site is overgrown with trees and shrubs.

Condition and results of archaeological research

The site was formerly within the administrative boundaries of the village of Jędrzychów, and within the limits of today’s Goświnowice there is another mediaeval settlement. This can explain certain irregularities or even misinformation contained in the archives, which is now difficult to verify and put straight.

The settlement in question was surveyed in 1958 by Józef Kaźmierczyk and Klemens Macewicz who, based on the few pieces of uncovered ceramics, dated the site to the 14-16th century.

The site is open to visitors. It sits just off the main road, along a dirt road. The area of the site is accessible in periods outside the vegetation period. The moat is filled with water seasonally.

Compiled by dr Magdalena Przysiężna-Pizarska and Ewa Kalbarczyk-Klak, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Opole, 18-11-2014.

Bibliography

• Gorgolewski W., Tomczak E., Grodziska Górnego Śląska i Zagłębia Dąbrowskiego z lotu ptaka, Katowice 1996.
• Hołubowicz W., Opole w wiekach X - XII, Katowice 1956, s. 49.
• Kazimierczyk J., Macewicz K., Wuszkan S., Studia i materiały do dziejów Opolszczyzny wczesnośredniowiecznej, Opole 1977, s. 144 - 146.
• Kozłowska W., Wczesnośredniowieczne grody woj. Opolskiego na tle warunków fizjograficzno - gospodarczych, Konserwator Opolski, t. 1, s. 6 - 23, poz. 86; 1956.
• Lorenz K., Urkundliches über Wehranlagen im Niesserlande, 40/42 Jahresbericht des Kunst- und Altertumsvereins Neisse, Nysa 1939, s. 17.