Monument Type(s):

• NATURAL FEATURE (Unknown date)
• MOTTE? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• RIDGE AND FURROW (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

A prominent mound once thought to be a medieval motte (earthwork castle) but now generally interpreted as a natural feature

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA5782 - 1999 site visit by English Heritage MPP Fieldworker
• ESA7449 - 1996 desk-based assessment and field survey at Hagley, Chirbury by Paul Williams

Description

Under the printed H of Hagley, adjoining the orchard, is an unrecorded motte <1>

Ridge and furrow is visible all round the mound on the AP taken in 1990 <3>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Low score as one of 43 Motte castles; Low score as one of 91 Irregular Open Field Systems <4>

This mound was thought to be a possible motte castle. Although given a low score in the MPP desk based assessment phase, aerial photographs indicated a prominent landscape feature within a pasture field. It is a roughly circular knoll, approximately 40m across and 3m high, with exposed bedrock to its full height to the south. It would appear to be an entirely natural feature <5>

Noted but rejected as a motte by Spurgeon in 1966 [<6>], and also rejected as a natural rocky outcrop by King in 1970. <7>

This site was surveyed by Paul Williams in 1996 and the evidence for it being a motte and bailey was evaluated. It was concluded that the mound was clearly a natural feature. It is an outcrop of volcanic tuff of the same type that constitutes The Ridge which lies 250 metres to the north on the same geological alignment known as the Hagley volcanics. While it was fairly common for the Normans to use topography to their advantage in castle construction, the rock matrix of this mound would make excavation of foundation trenches to take the large timber legs of any type of tower, impractical. The lack of any bailey features adds weight to the natural mound hypothesis ,one or more baileys being an intregal part of the early Norman castle, although this is still a point of contention with many archaeologists . It is however possible, as with some other surviving mottes, that traces of any baileys have been lost to the plough. Only excavation, geophysical survey or aerial photography can resolve arguments over non existent baileys. ->

-> The mound was photographed and a section of the ridge and furrow was drawn. <8>

<00> Shropshire County Council SMR, Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards, SMR Card for PRN SA 03473 (Card index). SSA20722.

<01> Bird A J, 1977, History on the Ground, p89 (Monograph). SSA475.

<02> Musson Chris R, 1985-Mar-12, CPAT 85/08/0002 (Oblique aerial photograph). SSA18808.

<03> Musson Chris R, 1990-Apr-04, CPAT 90/MB/0628 (Oblique aerial photograph). SSA18809.

<04> Horton Wendy B, 1990/ 1991, MPP Evaluation File (TEXT). SSA20084.

<05> Reid Malcolm L, 1999-Jul-27, MPP Non-Scheduling Alternative Action Report [27/07/1999] (Alternative Action Report). SSA21978.

<06> Spurgeon C J, 1966, The castles of Montgomeryshire (Article in serial). SSA22953.

<07> Hogg A H A & King D J C, 1970, Castles in Wales and the Marches: additions and corrections (Article in serial). SSA720.

<08> Williams P, 1996, An evaluation of a possible motte at Hagley, in the parish of Chirbury, Shropshire (Archaeological fieldwork report). SSA27798.

Sources

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