HER 15 DESCRIPTION:-

Scheduled Monument Description:-

An enclosure castle is a defended residence or stronghold, built mainly of stone, in which the principal or sole defence comprises the walls and towers bounding the site. Some form of keep may have stood within the enclosure but this was not significant in defensive terms and served mainly to provide accommodation. Larger sites might have more than one line of walling and there are normally mural towers and gatehouses. Outside the walls a ditch, either waterfilled or dry, crossed by bridges may be found. The first enclosure castles were constructed at the time of the Norman Conquest. However, they developed considerably in form during the 12th century when defensive experience gained during the Crusades was applied to their design. The majority of examples were constructed in the 13th century although a few were built as late as the 14th century. Some represent reconstructions of earlier medieval earthwork castles of the motte and bailey type, although others were new creations. They provided strongly defended residences for the king or leading families and occur in both urban and rural situations. Enclosure castles are widely dispersed throughout England, with a slight concentration in Kent and Sussex supporting a vulnerable coast, and a strong concentration along the Welsh border where some of the best examples were built under Edward I. They are rare nationally with only 126 recorded examples. Considerable diversity of form is exhibited with no two examples being exactly alike. With other castle types, they are major medieval monument types which, belonging to the highest levels of society, frequently acted as major administrative centres and formed the foci for developing settlement patterns. Castles generally provide an emotive and evocative link to the past and can provide a valuable educational resource, both with respect to medieval warfare and defence and with respect to wider aspects of medieval society. All examples retaining significant remains of medieval date are considered to be nationally important.

St Briavel's Castle survives well with its moat, curtain wall, gatehouse and royal apartments in good condition. The upstanding remains are a good example of an enclosure castle of the 13th century. Sub-surface deposits within the castle and moat will contain archaeological information and environmental evidence relating to the castle and the wider landscape. Notice boards explain concisely the history and functions of the various parts of the castle, and it can be visited by the public in its present function as a Youth Hostel, providing a valuable educational resource. The enclosure castle of St Briavels is recorded in the early 12th century, but is thought to have its beginnings in the 11th century as a motte and bailey castle. This long history of use and adaptation will provide evidence of changing approaches to defensive problems and castle building over time. It was one of a sequence of castles along the border, built as part of a defensive strategy against the Welsh. In the 13th century it was strengthened in a huge castle building programme undertaken for the conquest of Wales and the Welsh wars of 1277, 1282-3 and 1294-5. The gatehouse can be seen as part of the sequential development of castle gatehouses formed by projecting mural towers on either side of an entrance passageway which culminated in the grand castles of Harlech, Beaumaris, Caerphilly and Tonbridge. St Briavel's Castle was frequently visited by the kings of England including King John, Henry II and Edward II, and had royal apartments especially constructed to accomodate them. These royal associations will give an insight into social organisation in the medieval period, and because of the consequential high profile, may provide additional historical documentary evidence which reflects the status of the castle. Apart from its military function the castle was the judicial centre for the Forest of Dean and an arsenal for locally produced weaponry.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes an enclosure castle situated on the edge of a steep scarp above the River Wye, where the land falls away sharply to the river to the west. The castle appears to have been sited to control the nearby ford at Bigsweir. The irregular plan of the castle has led to the suggestion that it lies on the site of an earlier earthwork, and that in its earliest form it may have been an earthen motte with a timber or stone bailey, dating to the early part of the 12th century. Although the precise date of its foundation is not known, it appears not to have been in existence when William Fitz Baderon acquired the estate in about 1086, and it is likely that he built the first castle on the site at this time as part of a defensive scheme started by William Fitz Osbern against the Welsh. The first known record of the site dates from 1131. By the later 12th century a square stone keep, which was said to have been over 100ft high, had been constructed on top of the castle motte, and in the 13th century a curtain wall was added enclosing an area of 0.61ha. Between 1209 and 1211 extensive additions appear to have been undertaken to the fabric of the castle, including the construction of a two-storey domestic range on the north west side which is thought to have been the `royal apartments' mentioned in documents of 1227, and which replaced in importance and function the earlier hall which lay on the north side of the ward of the castle. Also at this time the twin towered gatehouse with a defended passage was added. The structure was originally conceived as a keep gatehouse, that is a gatehouse which could be closed and defended against attack from the rear as well as the front. The gatehouse was rebuilt by Edward I in 1292-93 to improve the defences of the castle against Welsh attack and to provide a more prestigeous residence for the Royal Constable. The entrance passage was closed by three barriers each consisting of a portcullis backed by a pair of massive doors. Smaller doors, each protected by its own portcullis, originally led into the side rooms and upper floors of the gatehouse. In the 14th century a chapel was built in the castle ward, replacing an earlier timber chapel. The upstanding remains of the castle, which have survived into the 20th century, date mainly from the early 13th century and comprise a dry moat with a pond in its north east side, rubble curtain walls, fragments of the square keep on the motte, the two-storey domestic range, the site of the hall with its fireplace and the twin towered gatehouse with its defended passage, above which are a group of rooms. The 14th century chapel stands on the west side of the bailey against a building which houses a reused 14th century fireplace. Adjacent to the west side of the castle moat is a level piece of land, the only available flat ground before the land falls away sharply to the west. It has been suggested that this piece of land, called the `Tump', was part of the early castle but there is no direct evidence for this, and it appears to be outside the limits of the moat. This area is not, therefore, included in the scheduling. It is possible that the outer edge of the moat on the north and east side may extend under the road and the George public house, but it is considered that disruption of the archaeological levels in subsequent road construction and by the cellars of the George, have removed archaeological deposits in these areas, and they are also not included in the scheduling. The castle was the Crown's administration centre for the Forest of Dean, and there were many royal visitors to the castle throughout the early Middle Ages. These royal visitors included King John, who visited on five separate occasions, Henry II who made four visits between 1220 and 1230, and Edward II who stayed there in 1321. The castle also fulfilled a number of administrative functions and was the seat of legal administration for the area; the Hundred Court, the Court Baron of the manor and castle, the Court of Criminal jurisdiction and the Mine-Law Court were all held there. All offenders from the 96 bailiwicks of the Forest were brought to the castle to be imprisioned. The castle remained in use as a courthouse and prison long after it had lost its military function. It also served as an arsenal for locally produced weaponry. With the conquest of Wales completed in the late 15th century, the importance of the castle rapidly declined. In 1680 the unused parts of the castle were demolished. The keep collapsed in 1752, by which time the great hall had also been demolished, leaving only the former royal apartments and the gatehouse still in use. In 1777 the east tower collapsed and destroyed the adjoining buildings. The castle was used as a debtors' prison until 1842, and the gaolers are said to have run an ale house there from 1702. The castle, having been allowed to decay, began to be restored in the late 19th century, and was rendered habitable in 1906. In 1952 it was occupied by the Youth Hostels Association, and is now a Youth Hostel. The castle is a Listed Building Grade I and is in the care of the Secretary of State. A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are all modern fitments and fittings inside the castle and those attached to the castle fabric, the temporary building and cycle shed which adjoins the south side of the chapel, the cobbled surface of the drawbridge, the wall around the outer part of the moat and the wooden gates and gateposts which give access to the moat, the stonework around the pond in the moat and notice boards. The ground, fabric and walls beneath all these features is, however, included {Source Work 2873.}

Listed Building Description:

ST BRIAVELS CHURCH STREET SO 50 SE (south side) 6/166 St Briavels Castle and curtain wall GV I 07/03/88

Remains of castle, and curtain wall, now a Youth Hostel. Early C13 and c1292-93, later modifications especially in C19 and C20. Principally in coursed sandstone, with stone slate roofs. What remains is the 3-storey gatehouse of late C13 with two D-shaped towers flanking a crenellated main entrance over the moat, now dry, with the original C13 hall range immediately behind, to the right, and with a restructured C19 facade, then cross wing including the chapel of late C13; this all lies in the north-west corner of a roughly oval curtain wall which is broken in various places, all set to a mound with former moat. The gate house is in 3 storey’s and basement with glacis to base of towers; left has five 2-light C19 or later casements in wood with transom, right one similar, 1 deep arrow slit, and 3 small single lights, central great doors in segmental pointed arch in 3 orders, return face right has 4 arrow slits and three 2-light wood casements, one with transom; then 2 storey block with crenellated top, with C19 windows, two 3-light with transom and one 2-light the same over one 3-light and two 2-light casements without transom, continued to gable with fine decorative octagonal chimneystack with trefoil heads and crocketted gables and a small spire over 2-light casement with transom and a lofty C19 door. Interior: west tower includes fine heavily detailed carpenter's staircase at first floor, and hooded C13 fireplace, oak plank floors and deep embrasured openings, the current dining room includes fireplace with moulded overmantel under a blocked arch and one minute light in a deep embrasure. Large hooded C13 or C14 fireplace at first floor in north west tower. The Chapel, now a games room, is of late C13, has heavy 3-bay roof, double chamfer door, and an original piscina, and includes a 3-light stone casement with heavy transom but tracery now missing from pointed head, and a similar window to room known as King John's bedroom; King John's bedroom includes a very heavy overmantel on triple shafts with carved caps which do not fit the shafting. A very impressive remnant and sited very prominently opposite the Church of St Mary (qv). (D Verey, Gloucestershire: the Vale and the Forest of Dean, 1970). A M Gloucestershire: 461. {Source Work 1042.}

The earliest part of the castle defences was evidently the low motte to the south. It presumably carried a stone or timber tower by 1130, but later in the 12th century a square stone keep, said to have been c100 foot high was built on the motte. Probably by the early 13th century a curtain wall was built, raised on an earth bank and surrounded by a broad moat. An area of 1.5 acres, roughly oval in shape, was enclosed by the defences, but Bailey Tump, the triangular spur of ground projecting towards the valley west of the moat, and a similar shaped area on the level ground to the east, on which the original main entrance into the castle is thought to have been, appear to have once formed part of the castle grounds. {Source Work 3710.}

Substantial expenditure on the castle in 1209-11 may have included the cost of a two-storeyed domestic range on the north-west. It included two principal first-floor rooms, probably royal apartments. King John stayed here at least five times, Henry III, four times and Edward II in 1321 when his baronial opponents were levying forces in the Marches. The castle's main function in the early Middle Ages was as a headquarters for the constable-warden, a prison for those attached and awaiting bail for forest offences and an arsenal for locally manufactured weapons. North of the domestic block, a strong keep-like gatehouse was built in 1292-3. This is the main surviving structure today. It comprises a pair of three-storeyed towers, which project into the moat beyond the curtain wall and original north gateway, and a long central passage to which access was controlled by a drawbridge and portcullis at the front entrance and by internal portcullises at the entrances to the rooms leading from it. Soon afterwards a two-storeyed chapel block, possibly replacing a wooden chapel, that was ordered to be built adjoining the king's chamber in 1237.

In 1310 'a peel' was ordered for extra security of the castle and the curtain wall extended to take in a small area south of the keep. There was a small tower of bastion where the new wall rejoined the original curtain at the south-east corner of the castle. Other buildings adjoining the curtain wall on the east included a hearth or forge possibly used for the manufacture of crossbow bolts during the 13th century. A tall chimney rising from the buildings on that side had a cap in the form of a forester's horn which in the late 18th or early 19th century was moved to the west domestic range.

In the modern period the castle was used for holding the hundred leet and a court for civil actions in St Briavel's hundred and as a gaol for debtors imprisoned by the latter. The courts and the goal continued until 1842 and were amongst the responsibilities of the constable. The courts were held in parts of the west range. In 1804 the former chapel served as a courtroom and the southernmost room of the former royal apartments as a jury room. The west tower of the gatehouse housed the gaol and the gaoler and his family. The north part of the royal apartments was roofless until the late 18th century and was used to impound cattle illegally pastured in St Briavels and Newland Moors. In 1866 the crown built a new manor pound outside the castle. {Source Work 3710.}

In 1880 unused parts of the castle were allowed to decay and in 1680 much was demolished. The keep was ruined in 1732 and part fell in 1752. Lord Berkeley paid for repairs. After the crown took the castle in hand in the mid 19th century the courtroom was used as a parish school and other parts let as dwellings, one tower of the gatehouse occupied in 1879. In 1898, to form a more substantial residence, the gatehouse and the west domestic range were restored and partly remodeled, though some of the original internal features were preserved. The castle was let as a private house until 1939, housed an evacuated school during WWII, and was let in 1948 to the Youth Hostel Association. The moat was drained in the mid 19th century. {Source Work 3710.}

A guidebook to the castle summaries the history of the castle from the available contemporary Medieval documents and of the standing buildings. Excavations are also recorded within the circuit of the walls as occurring in 1970 and 1972. {Source Work 10370.}

1891 - The castle at Saint Briavels was visited by members of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club on 17 September 1891 as part of a field visit in the Newland and Saint Briavels area. The castle was noted as still in occupation, with the castle court and jury rooms being used as a school at the start of the century. {Source Work 10692.}

1989 - In January 1989, the castle was visited in order to observe works associated with the refurbishment of its electrical system. This included the provision of a new lightening conductor system, for which 9 small trenches were dug at various points around the castle's interior and exterior, in order to insert earthing rods. Nine trenches were dug. East was designed to be circa 1m long and 0.3m wide and deep. The trenches were dug by hand an most revealed circa 0.25m of topsoil lying over rubble mixed with soil. Three trenches needed extending by 2m in order to insert another rod in each. All finds came from the topsoils only, and were modern in date consisting of bottle glass, iron fragments an done sherd of window pattern plate. None were kept. {Source Work 2580.}

1994 - A watching brief to observe the excavation of a trench for electricity cabling across the filled moat to the west of the castle was undertaken on 06/09/1994. The single trench was aligned approximately east-west from SO5584004567 to SO5581304571; it was c.27 metres in length by c.0.5 metres wide by c.0.5 metres deep. The fill appeared to be all post medieval. At c.22.5 metres from the castle the outside edge of the moat was observed cut into the natural reddish-brown clay. The site archive has been stored at the Dean Heritage Centre, Soudley under accession number 2001/59. {Source Work 2696.}

1994 - 1995 - In December 1994 and February 1995, Cotswold Archaeological Trust carried out an archaeological excavation within the gatehouse of St Briavels Castle prior to the extension of the washroom of the Youth Hostel. Hand excavation revealed medieval stratigraphy and wall footings surviving within the south-east quarter of the gatehouse, which probably represent the foundation plinths for part of the late 13th century gatehouse. However, the interpretation of the wall footings remain difficult due to the limited nature of the excavation. {Source Work 6499.}

1997 - A condition audit of wall paintings at St Briavel's Castle was undertaken by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory. It includes a wall painting record, general audit information, documentation of original materials and execution of the painting, and deterioration and damage including previously used materials and treatment as well as proposals for treatment and monitoring strategies {Source Work 12164.}

1997-2000 - A seasonal programme of work was undertaken by JR Pidgeon for English Heritage to record the standing fabric of the castle. The timber roof of the western gatehouse tower was surveyed and recorded during April 1997, the masonry fabric of the same tower recorded during renovation between September and December 1998, in the solar and chapel area both masonry and timber was assessed and partially surveyed in February and March 1999 with a full record undertaken during conservation work between September and December 2000. The eastern gatehouse tower and the king's hall or state apartments were investigated during restoration work between September and December 1999 along with a partial survey of the curtain wall. Dendrochronological analysis of the structural timbers was undertaken where possible. The draft of the report has been allocated. {Source Work 7284.}

1999 - A programme of dendrochronological work was undertaken by the Nottingham Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory during 1998 in work commissioned by English Heritage for Saint Briavel's Castle, Saint Briavel's. A series of timbers were sampled from the roof of the west gatehouse tower and door panels to confirm the belief in the repair of the west gatehouse in the later 17th century, with 19 possessing identifiable tree-rings matched to regional master chronologies. This site chronology possessed identifiable tree-rings spanning the period 1362 to 1636 AD with a felling date range from 1637 to 1646 AD which confirms the belief of the 17th century origins of the existing roof. {Source Works 5222.}

2001 - A further programme of dendrochronological work was undertaken by the Nottingham Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory during 2001 in work commissioned by English Heritage for the chapel and solar buildings of Saint Briavel's Castle, Saint Briaval's. A series of timbers were sampled from the roofs and floors - mainly as rafters and floor beams - with 29 of the samples providing identifiable and dateable tree-rings spanning the period 1362 to 1592 AD. This work suggests a late 16th century reroofing of these two buildings was carried out in the later 16th century. {Source Works 6263}

2002 - A summary of this work appears in the Vernacular Architecture List 131 for tree-ring dates as Gloucestershire, Site 13. {Source Work 10936.}

2003 - Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service were commissioned to undertake a programme of archaeological monitoring and excavation at St Briavels Castle. The work was spread over five phases between 19th March and 10th December 2003. The work was associated with groundworks for the renewal of part of the sewer infrastructure, investigation of the drainage, test pitting, resurfacing of the courtyard and the insertion of a drain pot, at the castle. As the works were within a Scheduled Monument, Scheduled Monument Consent was sought and gained. The archaeological monitoring and excavation recorded alterations and adaptations of the castle structure from the thirteenth century to the present day. The results are condensed below and grouped into the five different phases of work.

1. Sewer Infrastructure

The replacement of the sewer infrastructure comprised the hand excavation, within an existing sewer pipe cut, of a trench c. 20 metres long, 0.66 metres wide and 1 metre deep. This trench ran from the existing sewer infrastructure associated with the toilet to the south of the eastern gatehouse, to an existing inspection chamber to the notrth of the eastern gatehouse, in the area of the infilled moat. Within this trench two parts of a stone structure were recorded. It consisted of large dressed sandstone blocks mortared together to form a solid stone structure, which probably formed an underground rectangular stone structure. The function and date of this stone structure is unknown, as the feature was not excavated, but may relate to an early phase of the gatehouse (c. pre 1292-3), possibly part of a swing bridgeor similar defensive entrance (pers.comm. J. Pidgeon).

Several phases of construction were also recorded within the section recorded exposed by the sewer pipe trench, including two large dressed sandstone blocks laid one on top of the other and mortared into the western side of the eastern tower, at the modern ground level. The northern side of these stones was at a c. 45 degree angle inplan, with a sub vertical edge tapering upwards, forming part of the gatehouse butress.

2. Test Pit 1

The initial investigation of the drain at the southern end of the castle comprised the hand excavation of a test pit, c. 1.4 metres long, 1.3metres wide and 0.8metres deep.This recorded multiple phases of construction within the matrix of the wall, with the lower half of a blocked chamfered windowon the western side of the test pit and a stepped foundation on the northern side. The area had probably been significantly altered during post-medieval levelling of the area, probably during the early twentieth century renovations.

3. Test Pit 2

The second investigation of the drain at the southern end of the castle compromised the hand excavation of a test pit 1 metre wide by 1 metre long and 1 metre deep. The pit was excavated along the assumed axis of the drain at a point where it was also assumed it would change direction.The second investigation recorded successive foundations and walls of the structures adjoining the castle.

4. Investigation of the drainage between Test Pits 1 and 2

A trench was excavated between the two test pits to further investigate the drainage at the southern end of the castle. This compromised the hand excavation of a trench 6.5 metres long, 0.4 metres wide and 1.1 metres deep, parallel with the southern refectory wall.This trench recorded evidence for the post-medieval levelling of the area probably from the early twentieth century century renovations.

5. Resurfacing of the courtyard and insertion of a drain pot

This part of the scheme consisted of the stripping of the courtyard and between the gatehouses, to remove the existing gravel chippings and allow enough depth for the resurfacing.No significant deposits or contexts were recorded. {Source Work 7678.}