Monument Type(s):

• MOTTE AND BAILEY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• GAZEBO (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1901 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: A good example of a Norman motte and bailey castle overlooking the Rea Brook valley routeway between Shrewsbury and Montgomery.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1860 - Undated field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1861 - 1971 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1862 - 1983 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA7514 - 2015 DBA of four castle sites in the Welsh Marches, part of the Stiperstones and Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme by SCAS and CPAT
• ESA8727 - 2018 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8625 - 2014 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8621 - 2015 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8361 - 2016 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA8362 - 2017 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England
• ESA9067 - 2019 Heritage at Risk Survey by Historic England

Description

Slight traces of mortared masonry walls are visible on the summit of the motte, and mortared stones litter the slope. Since the motte is remote from vicarage or hall. it seems unlikely that they are the remains of a recent folly <1c>

A motte 30m in diameter rising 6m above the bailey which is delineated by a scarp slope averaging 0.8m high. OS FI 1972 <1> <1d>

A collapsed stone building on top of the motte at Wilmington appears to have been a viewpoint or a gazebo. On a ridge. The motte is 14ft high and 25ft across the top and is surrounded by a bailey. Both motte and bailey have been damaged; the motte ditch has been filled in, and the defences of the bailey, apart from a 6ft scarp to the N, have been erased, though their line is still traceable. A steep sided spur to the S of the motte may have formed part of the defended area. Plan and sections reproduced. <5a>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Low score as one of 46 Motte and Bailey castles. <9>

Scheduling revised in 1995. Scheduling description: ->

->The monument includes the remains of a motte and bailey castle situated on a low ridge on the south side of Rea Brook. The castle is positioned to overlook the natural valley routeway from Shrewsbury in the north east to Montgomery in the south west. It includes a substantial earthen mound, or motte, circular in plan with a base diameter of 32m standing up to 4.6m high. The circular summit of the mound is 9m in diameter and shows slight traces of mortared masonry walls with scattered stone rubble indicating that a building once occupied the summit. The motte stands on the summit of the ridge, the hillslope surrounding it has been cut back to create a well defined scarp up to 1.8m high enclosing an oval area of roughly level ground. The largest portion of this enclosure extends to the north of the motte and would have functioned as a bailey, a defended area in which the domestic buildings associated with the castle would have stood. It has dimensions of 35m north to south by 42m transversely. The bailey scarp continues to the south of the motte to enclose the tail of the spur, forming a small triangular area of defended ground. Although this could have been used in a similar fashion as the main bailey, it appears to have been principally designed to give additional defensive strength to the motte in this quarter. There are no visible surface traces of ditches surrounding either motte or bailey though they will survive as buried features. Sections of boundary hedges within the area are not included in the scheduling although the ground beneath is included. <10>

Photographed during aerial photographic survey in 2008-2009. <13><14><15>

The massive motte here appears to be a scarped and heightened hill, with an oval bailey, defended by terraces, themselves scarped out of the hillside. Survey plan reproduced. <16>

A programme of desk-based research, limited survey and a condition survey were undertaken of Wilmington Castle in 2015, as part of the 'Helping Hillforts and Earthwork Castles' project undertaken by the Stiperstones and Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme. ->

-> This outlines the historical development of the castle and the surrounding demesne. A plan from Higham and Barker (<16>) was enhanced with LiDAR imagery and recent aerial photography. Includes a brief condition report on the monument, from May 2015. <17>

Listed by Cathcart King. <18>

The motte and bailey are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (NMR SJ 2902/5 06-JUL-1984) and have been mapped by RCHME's Marches Uplands Mapping Project. <19>

The slight earthwork remains of probable medieval ridge and furrow can be seen in the field immediately to the west of the motte and bailey. These remains were visible on lidar images (NRHE - SJ2902_DSM_1M). <20>

Sources

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