Monument Type(s):

• CATTLE PEN? (Unknown date)
• FORT? (Roman - 43 AD to 410 AD)
• MANOR HOUSE? (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1901 AD)

Summary

An eroded regular rectangular enclosure which has been variously interpreted as a Roman Fort, a cattle pen or the site of a manor house.

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds

• FSA213 - SHERD (Medieval to Late 19th century - 1066 AD to 1899 AD)

Associated Events

• ESA1468 - 1962 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1469 - 1978 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA1470 - 1979 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1471 - 1991 field observation by Shropshire County Council

Description

An earthwork enclosure which has been variously interpreted as a cattle enclosure and Roman fort <1>

The interior is flat and featureless and the banks are ploughed down and much damaged and no certain evidence of an entrance is visible from the ground though on the NW and NE traces of a ditch are seen. 1960…"Preliminary topographic examination leads to the tentative conclusion that the structure is a Roman fort." <1d>

On a map of 1631 the earthwork is not shown, but the field is called Trench Castlegate. A house is shown in perspective at SJ51502709 (near the north corner of the earthwork) with two smaller buildings to the west (SJ51382712 and SJ51442711). The adjacent field is called Wall meadow. (There is a spring in that field according to the 1:2500 map, therefore should it be Well Meadow?) OS Records check 1979 <1e>

The earthwork occupies the NE end of a low but prominent ridge which dominates the gently undulating Roden valley. It is not however, situated on the highest point but on a slight terrace a little below it, but above steeper slopes into the valley floor. The field is regularly ploughed and the work has been reduced to a scarp with a maximum height of 0.9m at the west corner; there is a detectable slope in the middle of the south-west side which may indicate an entrance. There are faint traces of a ditch at the west corner. The earthwork has the form of a parallelogram and measures 106m in length NW/SE by 54m transversely. The corners are rounded and the west corner has a radius of about 10m. The interior is smooth and there are no indications of the buildings shown in 1631. The field name Trench Castlesteade suggests a greater antiquity than a Medieval manor house site, but firmer evidence to support a Roman date is wanting. Surveyed at 1:2500 on MSD. OS FI 1979 <1><1f>

The site is as described by Houghton [<1d>], the earthworks being much eroded but still traceable. Surface scatter of post-med material and one sherd of med (?) pottery found. The regularity of the site may favour its interpretation as a Roman fort, but it could equally be a medieval manor house site. It is impossible to tell in its present eroded condition. I Burrow FI 1978 <2>

The site is now barely visible. It shows as a very slight rectangular rise, which you would probably not see unless you knew it was there. There was, however, a reasonable quantity of post medieval brick, tile and pottery in the appropriate location, including some brown glazed wares which could be C16/C17. There was no earlier material. The site is most likely to be a post medieval house. W Horton 1991 FI <3>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2010. <5>

Cropmark visible on 1999 aerial photography, and GIS polygon created from this, which is at variance with the earthwork shown on 2nd edition Ordnance Survey mapping. <6><7><8>

Included in a gazetteer of castles in Shropshire, c.1985. <9>

Sources

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