The motte, constructed from sand and gravel, was deliberately built on a natural glacial mound, making it appear unusually large. It is in diameter and high, with a of space on the top, protected around the base by a high bank and a ditch up to wide, although when first built these would have been taller and deeper than today. There was a timber keep on the motte, and possibly a stone gatehouse at the south-east corner, leading onto the earthwork causeway that crossed the mere south to link the motte with the bailey. The eastern causeway linked the motte with the church in Skipsea village.