Monument Type(s):

• TOWN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Deserted medieval borough which was established primarily to serve Caus Castle. Caus was probably in existence by 1200 when the grant of a weekly market was obtained. The borough was encircled with a wall and two gates before 1300 and adjoined Caus Castle to the north and west (see SJ30NW1). After the Black Death Caus went into decay and the last mention of a tenanted house there was in 1614. The free Chapel of St Nicholas opposite the Castle gate was in use until the destruction of the castle in 1645. The Chapel of St Margaret was founded in 1272 and is last documented in 1447. The interior street between East Gate and Wallop Gate was in use as part of a field road in 1816.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA7503 - 2015 Gradiometer survey at Caus Castle, Westbury, by Giles Carey
• ESA7959 - 2016 Resistivity survey at Caus Castle, Westbury by Giles Carey
• ESA8179 - 2016 Earthwork survey at Caus Castle, Westbury by Michael Fradley
• ESA8180 - 2016 Photogrammetric (UAV) survey at Caus Castle, Westbury by Aerial Cam

Description

CMHTS Report. <1>

General aerial photograph taken during aerial photographic survey in 2007. <2>

A programme of fluxgate gradiometer survey was undertaken in May-June 2015, within the outer bailey of Caus Castle, focused on the medieval borough associated with the castle. The aim of the survey was to evaluate the extent to which sub-surface archaeological deposits might survive associated with the borough. It was intended that this work formed a pilot evaluation of the potential of the site for further non-intrusive survey. ->

-> The results have been promising, although no clear in situ building remains/structural deposits have been identified. The main set of anomalies relate to a series of trackways, lengths of which are evident as extant holloways, running roughly NE-SW across the site. In addition, a number of weaker magnetic anomalies have been recorded, which may well represent further disturbed building material across the site, some of it potentially in situ. <3>

Further to work in 2015, in March 2016 a programme of electrical resistance survey was undertaken, again focused on the medieval borough associated with the castle. This work was carried out as part of a wider programme of investigation at the castle, supported by a small grant from the Castle Studies Trust. This comprised a programme of nested non intrusive methodologies, comprising analytical earthwork survey and photogrammetric survey. ->

-> Initial analysis of the resistivity data indicates the potential of this area of the site, with areas of discrete spreads of stonework recorded. Little of it appears to relate directly to in situ deposits. However, some anomalies were noted at the SE of the survey area which represent the most likely location for house platforms. Anomalies related to narrow ridge and furrow were recorded, running SE-NW across the survey area, indicating that this area has been subject to post-medieval agricultural activity. This accords well with the results of photogrammetry across this area, in particular. ->

-> The detailed analysis and reporting of this survey, together with discussion of the photogrammetric and analytical earthwork survey will be the subject of a further report/article. <4>

A programme of archaeo-topographical survey was undertaken at Caus Castle on 19-20 March 2016 alongside a UAV photogrammetric survey of the same area [<5a>] and a targeted electrical resistance survey of a section of the outer enclosure of Caus [<4>]. This work was funded by the Castle Studies Trust (CST) to advance understanding of this well-preserved, yet poorly-researched site, and followed an earlier unfunded magnetometry survey of the outer enclosure in 2015 [<3>]. ->

-> The archaeo-topographical and photogrammetric surveys have recorded a number of previously unidentified features across the site, allowing a significant reinterpretation of the development of the medieval castle and associated settlement. Features in and around the inner bailey and motte of the castle are particularly well-preserved, allowing a re-appraisal of the layout of this area in the later phases of the castle’s development. Earthwork features in the outer enclosure were less well preserved, although a number of important observations can still be made. A number of potentially important features outside of the castle and Scheduled area were also recorded. ->

-> The results of the survey would suggest that the bulk of evidence relating to the documented borough settlement at Caus was largely confined to the eastern section of the outer enclosure. Unfortunately later landscaping and agricultural activity have further masked the evidence in this area. This has left only traces of structural platforms and other slight features associated with the settlement. <5>

The Borough of Caus, which lay within a single rampart to the north and west of Caus Castle (See SJ 30 NW 1) was probably in existence by 1200 when the grant of a weekly market was obtained. The borough had been encircled with a wall and two gates before 1300. By circa 1349 it contained 58 burgage-tenements, and two gates and street names are recorded. After the Black Death however the borough went into decay and the last mention of a house there occurs in 1614. The course of the road from the East Gate to Wallop Gate, where there are remains of a massive stone gatehouse, is still visible and was still in use as a field road in the 19th century. The free chapel of St. Nicholas, which appears to have been situated opposite the inner gate of the castle, was probably founded in the 12th century. It was still furnished in 1612, and was probably used as a domestic chapel until the destruction of the castle. The chapel of St. Margaret in the borough of Caus was founded in 1272 and is last recorded in 1447. <6>

The Medieval motte and bailey of Caus Castle, and the adjacent earthworks of Caus Borough were seen as earthworks and mapped from aerial photographs during the Marches Uplands Mapping Project. Ridge and furrow field of probable Medieval date are visible within (and in the fields surrounding) the castle. Located at SJ 3363 0813, SJ 3404 0780 and SJ 3389 0797. CUCAP OT 89-94, 09-Jul-1954; CUCAP AMT 42-51, 19-Dec-1965. <7>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.