HeritageGateway - Home
Site Map
Text size: A A A
You are here: Home > > > > Shropshire HER Result
Shropshire HERPrintable version | About Shropshire HER | Visit Shropshire HER online...

HER Number (PRN):01044
Name:Motte castle adjacent to The Mount cottage, Rorrington
Type of Record:Monument
Protected Status:Scheduled Monument 1012862: Motte castle

Monument Type(s):

  • MOTTE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: A good example of a Norman motte castle, one of a series of such fortifications strategically positioned along the main pass between Shrewsbury and Montgomery.

Parish:Chirbury with Brompton, South Shropshire, Shropshire
Map Sheet:SJ30SW
Grid Reference:SJ 3031 0043

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

  • ESA1112 - 1968 field observation by English Heritage
  • ESA1113 - 1971 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
  • ESA1114 - 1983 field observation by English Heritage
  • ESA4785 - 1992-2000 Summary Condition Survey of SAMs in the Shropshire Hills Environmentally Sensitive Area by English Heritage

Description

A motte situated on the edge of a steep sided valley. It stands 8ft above a ditch now 2ft deep, and has a top about 42ft in diameter. There is no sign of any bailey, nor does the adjoining small-holding occupy a possible site for one <2a>
At Rorrington is a small mound adjacent to a farm-house, probably a tumulus <2b>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, High score as one of 43 Motte castles <6>

The monument includes a small motte castle situated on the northern edge of a small steep sided valley. It includes an earthen mound up to 25m in diameter and 2.5m high positioned on the precipitous edge of the valley to make maximum defensive use of the natural topography, the natural slope forming the south west side of the motte. The flat summit of the motte is circular in plan with a diameter of 16m. A ditch 6m wide and 0.4m deep is visible around the north east quarter of the motte. The ditch has been removed by the excavation of a platform for the construction of a cottage and outbuildings around the south east quarter and would never have existed around the west, where the valley slopes provide sufficient defence. The cottage and outbuildings which lie adjacent to the monument are not included within the scheduling, their platform being cut through the ditch. <7>

Visible on LiDAR data collected and processed during the Stiperstones and Corndon LPS "Open Hills, Old Ways & Commons" project, in 2014. <8>

Visited during a condition survey by the English Heritage Field Monument Warden, in 1999. Condition recorded as mainly satisfactory. <9>

The earthwork remains of the motte described by the previous authorities were seen at SJ 3031 0044 and mapped from aerial photographs. The site was seen as a mound with an encircling ditch around the base of the mound. <10>

Sources

[00]SSA20722 - Card index: Shropshire County Council SMR. Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards. SMR record cards. SMR Card for PRN SA 01044.
[01]SSA3821 - Card index: Ordnance Survey. 1971. Ordnance Survey Record Card SJ30SW10 . Ordnance Survey record cards. SJ30SW10 .
[02b]SSA178 - Volume: Victoria County History. 1908. Victoria County History 1. Victoria County History of Shropshire. Vol 1. p. 411.
[02]SSA3824 - Field Monument Warden Report: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (HBMC). 1985. Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 18107.
[02a]SSA4084 - Article in serial: Spurgeon C J & King D J C. 1965. The Mottes in the Vale of Montgomery. Archaeologia Cambrensis. Vol 114. p76.
[03]SSA16979 - Oblique aerial photograph: Musson Chris R. 1987-Dec-13. CPAT 87/MB/1277 to 1278 (2 photos). Black and White. Medium.
[04]SSA3822 - Scheduled Monument notification: Ministry of Public Buildings and Works. 1969. Map of Scheduled area, 1969.
[06]SSA20084 - TEXT: Horton Wendy B. 1990/ 1991. MPP Evaluation File.
[07]SSA3823 - Scheduled Monument notification: English Heritage. 1995. Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 19/05/1995). 19195.
[08]SSA27397 - Geospatial data: Environment Agency. 2014. LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) Hillshade Model (Stiperstones and Corndon LPS). Stiperstones and Corndon LPS.
[09]SSA20802 - Field survey report: Leigh Judith. 2001. Scheduled Ancient Monuments in the Shropshire Hills ESA: Brief Condition Survey.
[10]SSA31570 - COLLECTION: Historic England. 1993-1994. NRHE: RCHME: Marches Uplands NMP.
Date Last Edited:Nov 23 2021 4:07PM