Monument Type(s):

• CASTLE (12th century to 15th century - 1100 AD to 1499 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument and Listed Building: The fragmentary remains of a major Norman castle, which was built c1100 to replace the stronghold at Quatford, and appears originally to have had a bailey large enough to accommodate a small town. The castle was already in ruins by the mid 16th century, but the tower keep was still usable during the Civil War; it was slighted by Parliament in 1646.

Related records

Associated Finds

• FSA2338 - FLAKE (Late Prehistoric - 4000 BC to 43 AD)
• FSA2339 - COIN (Roman - 43 AD to 410 AD)

Associated Events

• ESA394 - 1927 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA395 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA396 - 1979 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA397 - 1986 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA4961 - 1996 WB on demolition and construction work between East and West Castle Street by Oxford Archaeological Unit
• ESA4962 - 1995 evaluation of land between East and West Castle Street by Oxford Archaeological Unit
• ESA6102 - 2000 Geophysical survey at Bridgnorth by GSB Prospection for Time Team
• ESA6147 - 2007 WB at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth by Martin Cook
• ESA6480 - 2010 site visit and photographic record of Castle Walks, Bridgnorth by Ironbridge Institute
• ESA7286 - 1995 trial trenching at Castle Hill, Bridgnorth by University of Birmingham (Dept of Archaeology)
• ESA7683 - 2015 WB at 17 East Castle Street, Bridgnorth by SCAS
• ESA7801 - 2000 excavations at Bridgnorth Castle and in East Castle Street by Time Team
• ESA8568 - 2018 WB on cable installation at Castle Hill Walk, Bridgnorth by Headland Archaeology (Ref: CHBS18)
• ESA9665 - 2021 WB and graveyard memorial recording, St Mary Magdalene Church, Bridgnorth by Pete Dorling (Ref: 19/02793/FUL)

Description

The castle was probably built by Robert de Belleme c1101-1102 on the abandonment of Quatford, and was placed, according to Florence of Worcester on the site of a Saxon burh, built by Ethelflaeda in 912 AD. Belleme surrendered the castle to Henry I in 1102. It then fell into the hands of Hugh de Mortimer during Stephen's reign but was surrendered to Henry II in 1155. By Henry VIII's reign the castle was in ruins, the keep surviving until 1646 when it was slighted by the Parliamentarians. The original church of St Mary Magdalene stood within the castle. The shattered walls of the tower keep built between 1105 and 1113, and a fragment of the curtain wall extending from the south wall remain. A portion of a wall around the summit of Castle Hill is said to be extant in the yard of the White Lion in 3 West Castle St (SA 372), while remains of the wall of the Ward form the eastern boundary of gardens to modern properties on the east side of East Castle St. ->

-> The only remains now visible of the King's House, within which was the castle hall, are some fragments of well built masonry which stand close to the west side of the tower. It apparently extended from where the Tower House (sic) now is to the southern extremity of the Castle Hill, all along the western side of the inner bailey ->

-> Bridgnorth Castle was situated on a steep sided promontory overlooking the River Severn. The remains are fragmentary and unconnected and most of the site has been built over, but the area enclosed by the bailey wall appears to have measured 360m N/S and 160m W/E at its widest point ->

-> SO71659278: Three sides of the Keep, 18 to 20m in height remain, leaning spectacularly to the east. There is a fragment of another building (?the King's House) on its SW side . Ten metres to the SE is a large slab of fallen masonry, probably from the keep ->

-> SO71729285 to SO71729302: An old stone wall 163m in length, much rebuilt, follows a sinuous course on the east of East Castle St <2>

Only the Keep, a massive ruinous tower of circa 1200 remains with a fragment of the curtain wall extending from the south wall. The keep leans at an angle of 15deg from vertical. <4>

The Castle was very large, the total length of the inner and outer baileys being 380m N/S. The outer bailey may always have been designed to accommodate a small borough, as at Quatford. The line of the defences is only certain at SO71599301, where a fragment (SA372) survives and at the site of the postern gate. (SA373). On the east side it is probable that Castle Walk and Bank St mark the line of the defences on this side. On the west the line is obscure between SA 372 and SO7161 9278, where the modern path along the top of the slope marks the line once more. The division between the inner and outer baileys is likewise unclear, but the church of St Mary was probably in the inner bailey, and the inner bailey defence may have run from c SO70629282 to SO71729250. The major surviving structure is the Keep, which is typologically of the early C12. The North side has angle buttresses of the Norman type. (detailed description see card). Other buildings mentioned are a Hall with chimney and glass windows, kitchen, pantry, buttery and stables, turrets, tilt yard, barbican containing constable's house with dungeons and well. A turret or mural tower was extant by 1226 when it was ordered to be repaired [Summary by I Burrow, 1976, apparently based on:] <2a><5><7><8>

The new castle at Bridgnorth included the institutions of the old site at Quatford, including the Collegiate Church of St Mary (SA 05631) and apparently the Borough and its burgesses. From exchequer accounts of the 12th to 13th century it is clear that there was a great hall with chimney and glass windows, a King's Chamber, a Queen's Chamber with an oriel at the door, a royal kitchen, pantry and butlery, all of stone, and royal stables. From other sources - a great tower with a dungeon (Ethelfleda's Tower), turrets on outer walls, a tilt yard, a barbican in which was the Constable's house and a prison, stables, a drawbridge and a well. In 1261 the Sheriff is commanded to have the houses in the castle roofed and repaired where needful (p257). By 1281, the castle was in a bad state of repair (p258-259) <7>

The castle was according to Florence of Worcester built in 1100 and was a rebuild of the fortress of Ethelfleda. Some antiquaries consider that the Saxon fort was not here but at the mound known as Panpudding Hill. Watkins-Pitchford disagrees and thinks the Saxon fortress was under the present castle.
After being siezed by Parliamentary troops in 1646, the buildings were stripped and they and the walls were systematically mined and blown up <8>

In 1991 an evaluation trench was dug in the grounds of St Mary's Rectory, at c SO71679288. Evidence for an east-west ditch was found, which might represent a defensive feature separating the inner and outer baileys of the C12 castle. <14>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, High score as one of 15 Tower Keep Castles <15>

It has been suggested that the Saxon burh must have been abandoned by the mid 11th century or it is hard to explain why the First Earl of Shrewsbury did not develop the Bridgnorth site instead of Quatford <16>

The layout of the original castle is not known. Documentary evidence suggests that work on the present keep was carried out between 1166 and 1174 <17>

Although the fortifications of the castle included an outer bailey, this area was by 1242 legally part of the town <18>

The royal palace or "King's House" in the inner bailey was nomiinally maintained as a royal residence down to the 17th century <19>

Described by Leland between 1536 and 1542: "The Walles of it be of great height. There were 2 or 3 stronge wardes in the castle, that now goe totally to ruine. I count the castle to be more in compasse than a third part of the town. There is one mighty gate by north in it, now stopped up, and a little posterne made of force thereby through the wall to enter into the castle. The castle ground and especially the base court, hath now many dwellinge houses of tymbre in it newly erected". <20>

CMHTS Comment: The castle includes within its outer bailey the earliest part of the town (SA 05630). The evaluation at St Mary's Rectory in 1991 (PRN 05627) [<14>] revealed what might be the moat separating the inner and outer baileys. <21>

CMHTS Report. <22>

SMCs granted to Bridgnorth Town Council for interpretative works in 1994. <23><24>

An evaluation and subsequent watching brief was carried out on land at East and West Castle street, towards the north of the outer bailey. The evaluation indicated the survivial of archaeological depsoits dating to the medieval period in the central and western areas of the site, underneath 1.5m and more of modern made ground. These deposits suggest backplot activity of properties fronting West Castle Street. The subsequent watching brief recorded that the cellarage of Victorian buildings had extensively truncated all deposits across the site to the natural. No deposits predating the 18th/19th century were identified, when this area appears to have been in use as an orchard. <25><26>

A programme of resistivity and GPR survey was carried out in the area of Brignorth Castle, by GSB Prospection as part of investigation by Time Team. The most significant anomaly identified was a large ditch. Subsequent excavation by Time Team indicated that this was the ditch of the inner bailey. <28> The Time Team excavation report has never been received by the HER, so this interpretation remains unverified. See PRN 08727, 05627 and 32521. <29>

A watching brief was undertaken at the church of St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, during excavations for drainage works. Only two features were recorded, these being a brick tomb and an isolated block of solid, random sandstone rubble masonry in lime mortar. This did not appear to be a tomb and seemed too slight to be associated with the castle. It is thought that it may have been a temporary structure relating to the construction of the church. <30>

Photographed during aerial photographic survey in 2008. <33>

A programme of evaluation was carried out at The Green, Bridgnorth by the Dept of Ancient History and Archaeology, Birmingham University, as part of a student training excavation in 1995. The aim of the excavation was to establish the level of archaeological preservation on the site. A resistivity survey was carried out which indicated main areas of disturbance and six trenches measuring 2x4m were placed where the results of resistivity survey suggested there might be features. ->

-> Excavations revealed parts of the foundations of a building associated with 12th-14th century pottery. The footings of the building survive from c.0.5m below present ground level, to at least 1.2m below present ground level, although it is clear much robbing and destruction has taken place, as illustrated by the quantities of tumbled stones with mortar and plaster adhering to them. All the medieval pottery was fragmentary and in an abraded condition. ->

-> As well as finds of animal bone, a single pierced Roman coin and four flint flakes were recovered. The excavation established that sufficient archaeology survives to enable at least the partial reconstruction of the inner bailey of the medieval castle to take place through further excavation, planned for 1996. [No further work appears to have been undertaken <35>].<34>

Photographed from the air by Chris Musson in 1992. <36>

In December 2015 work commenced on the construction of an extension to 17 East Castle Street, Bridgnorth, Shropshire. East Castle Street lies within the former outer bailey of Bridgnorth Castle and so the groundworks for the development were accompanied by archaeological work in the form of a watching brief. The watching brief recorded the remains of a former 19th century greenhouse and outhouses on the site of the extension, but no other significant archaeological features or deposits were encountered. <37>

Brief background material for Time team excavations in 2000, including a reconstruction drawing by Victor Ambrus. <38>

Apparently, during construction in the early-mid 19th century, at the site of Stallman's theatre (PRN 05621) and the New Market Buildings (PRN 17292), elements of 'the moat' of the castle were revealed between 30 and 40 feet deep [source not given]. <39>

A watching brief was undertaken during the installation of an electricity supply for a house adjoining Castle Hill Walk. The associated trenches were located on a tarmac pathway on the southeast of the promontory surrounding the castle (NGR SO 71723 92761). No archaeological deposits were identified within any of the trenches. <40>

The late C12 north gate was as highly ornamented as any surviving doorway in the county, outside Lilleshall Abbey. <41>

Scheduled Monument entry amended on 16/11/2018 (expanded description and GIS revised) - HE ref 1459703. See https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004783. <42>

Shropshire Archives hold a watercolour of Bridgnorth Castle (Reference
6001/372/1/120), by Reverend Edward Williams, dated to 1789. A small-scale thumbnail can be found via their online catalogue: https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X6001_19_372A_120 <43>

Sources

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