Monument Type(s):

• PARK PALE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: An earthwork believed to represent a fragment of the park pale of the medieval deer park attached to Hodnet Castle.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA6925 - 2010 Management survey of the motte and bailey castle on Castle Hill by Shropshire Council, HET

Description

No traces of a medieval earthen pale were noted during field investigation. OS FI 1975 <1>

Scheduling of Hodnet Castle revised in 2001. Relevant part of Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a motte and bailey castle, the standing structural remains of a tower keep, and the associated remains of a park pale, a fishpond and a formal garden. ->

-> In the area adjacent to the castle a deer park was established. In 1275 Odo de Hodnet was granted a licence to divert two routeways which ran through the park to new courses around its perimeter. The original extent of the park in the medieval period is not known, but by the late 16th century, when it is depicted on Saxton's Map of Shropshire, it occupied the hill to the west of the former hall. ->

-> To the south east of the castle there is a substantial linear bank, approximately 80m long and running north west-south east, which is considered to be the remains of the eastern boundary or park pale of the medieval deer park. At its northern end the bank is about 19m wide and stands up to 3m high, while at its southern end it is about 12m wide and stands to a height of 1.4m. The difference in the height of the bank reflects the sloping ground on which it was built. In common with other park pales it probably would have been surmounted by a fence or a hedge. Further south, the bank has been modified by later quarrying for marl and to the north it has been cut by the canalised stream. These areas are, therefore, not included in the Scheduling. ->

-> All fence and gate posts, stiles, electricity poles and the disused brick shed are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath all these features is included. <2>

A management plan was prepared for the castle and associated features in 2010, by Shropshire Council's Historic Environment Countryside Advisor. ->

-> South-east of the castle a substantial 80m long linear bank, 19m wide and up to 3m wide at the northern end and 12m wide and up to 1.2m high at the southern end, is thought to represent the remains of a park pale marking the eastern boundary of the medieval deer park. At the northern end the bank is cut by a stream whilst the southern end has been modified by later quarrying for marl. An area of ridge and furrow south-west of the bank may represent part of the medieval open fields around Hodnet which were subsequently incorporated within the deer park. <3>

<01> Ordnance Survey, 1975, Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ62NW8 (Card index). SSA10250.

<02> English Heritage, 2001, Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 09/03/2001) (Scheduled Monument notification). SSA20345.

<03> Wigley A, 2010, Management Plan for motte and bailey castle on Castle Hill (Management report). SSA23791.

Sources

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