Monument Type(s):

• MOTTE AND BAILEY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: A good example of a Norman earthwork castle positioned to control the routeway between the Long Mynd and the Linley Hill/ Stiperstones range.

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1760 - 1973 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1761 - 1977 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA1762 - 1985 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1763 - 1985 field observation by English Heritage

Description

Sub-circular faint mark on the N side may be traces of a bailey. The motte is tree covered, 2.8m high with a level top 16m in diameter, and a base diameter of 26m . Traces of a ploughed-down ditch 0.7m deep survive on the NW side only. Traces of a scarp slope 0.6m high 30m NW of the base of the mound may indicate the former existence of a bailey. OS FI 1973 <1>

Conical motte 20ft high. The E side of the counterscarp of the ditch shows indistinct traces of an outward turn, suggesting the existence of a bailey <2a>

The site is basically as described by the OS. The NE base is slightly eroded by cows. The ditch on the NW has a counterscarp bank and is about 5m wide. The surrounding area is pasture except the SE which is farmyard. The ditch mentioned by the OS as forming a possible bailey is visible as a scarp running downhill from the SW towards the ornamental lake on the NE, and shows as an area of denser grass growth. The motte itself lies on the NE slope (just below the crest) of a gentle NW/SE ridge. I Burrow FI 1977 <4>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Low score as one of 46 Motte and Bailey castles <8>

Scheduling revised in 1995. Scheduling description: ->

->The monument includes the remains of a motte and bailey castle situated in the settlement called Hardwick immediately below the crest of a low north west to south east ridge of high ground on the west bank of the East Onny River. The motte and bailey is positioned at the southern end of the river valley to control the natural north to south valley routeway between the Long Mynd hills to the east and Linley Hill/Stiperstones range to the west. It includes a substantial castle mound, or motte, with a bailey to the north west. The motte is circular in plan with a base diameter of 27m and standing up to 3m high. The summit of the motte is flat and has a diameter of 16m. The remains of a surrounding ditch, from which material would have been quarried for the construction of the motte, are visible around the north west quarter of the motte as a shallow depression up to 5m wide and 0.4m deep with traces of an outer, counter scarp bank 0.lm high. Although it is no longer visible as a surface feature around the remaining sides of the motte, the ditch will survive here also as a buried feature of similar proportions. The bailey to the north west was designed to provide protection for the domestic buildings associated with the castle. It is now represented by a length of low scarp averaging 0.6m high which curves approximately ENE to WNW. The scarp appears to represent the north west end of the bailey, the projected curve of the scarp indicating that the bailey originally had an internal area approximately 24m north west to south east by 40m transversely. Typically such a bailey would have had an outer protective ditch, which is believed to survive here as a buried feature with an estimated width of 4m. Fencing around the base of the motte and part of a barn which falls within the protected area are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath is included. <9>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2008. <10>

<00> Shropshire County Council SMR, Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards, SMR Card for PRN SA 01229 (Card index). SSA20722.

<01> Ordnance Survey, 1973, Ordnance Survey Record Card SO39SE10 (Card index). SSA5021.

<02a> Eyton R W, 1854/ 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (Volume 11), p12 (Monograph). SSA2157.

<02b> Victoria County History, 1908, Victoria County History 1, p386 (Volume). SSA178.

<02> Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (HBMC), 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 25053 (Field Monument Warden Report). SSA5026.

<03> Hogg A H A & King D J C, 1963, Early Castles in Wales and the Marches, p97 (Article in serial). SSA1163.

<04> Burrow Ian, 1977-Sep-14, Visit Notes, 14/09/1977 (Site visit report). SSA5027.

<05> Anon, 1983, Roveries Hillfort (Photograph). SSA5025.

<06> English Heritage, Map of Scheduled area (Scheduled Monument notification). SSA5023.

<07> Burrow Ian, 1977/ 1978, Motte at Hardwick (Photograph). SSA5022.

<08> Horton Wendy B, 1990/ 1991, MPP Evaluation File (TEXT). SSA20084.

<09> English Heritage, 1995, Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 21/11/1995) (Scheduled Monument notification). SSA5024.

<10> Shropshire Council, 2008-Jan-30, SA0802_028 to SA0802_030 (3 photos) Flight: 08_SA_02 (Oblique aerial photograph). SSA25387.

Sources

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