Monument Type(s):

• BURH? (Late Saxon - 800 AD? to 1066 AD?)
• RINGWORK (Late Saxon to Medieval - 800 AD to 1540 AD)
• RIDGE AND FURROW (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1901 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: A reasonably well-preserved medieval 'ringwork' (small earthwork fortification), of a very unusual square shape, once (no longer) believed to be the Saxon burh of Chirbury, but certainly situated to overlook the established Saxon settlement.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4724 - 1958 Excavation of ringwork at Chirbury by F T Wainwright
• ESA504 - 1953 excavation
• ESA505 - 1976 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA5524 - 1999-2000 Historic landscape characterisation of Bro Trefaldwyn (Ref: CPAT 761)
• ESA4714 - Marches Uplands Mapping Project 1993-1994 by RCHME
• ESA9271 - 2020 WB on land at Bryncaer, Chirbury by CPAT (Ref: 17/05857/FUL)

Description

Site lies to west of present village on spur site between to streams. Very steep drop to east, less to west. Ground rising to south and falling away to stream junctions on the N. The site is a rectangular embanked enclosure, although east side has either collapsed into valley or was never present, and south side has been truncated by the deeply cut hollow way to the south. On the west the single bank is 1.5m high from the exterior and c 0.3m from the interior. Somewhat damaged, perhaps by trees. N side bank c 1m high from the exterior with a slight outer ditch. The interior is featureless. Ridge and furrow runs parallel to the north west bank on the N side. I Burrow <4>

The excavations of 1958 into the bank surrounding two sides of the rectangular enclosure marked on OS maps as "Castle (site of)" revealed it to be a slight rampart of thrown-up earth and stones, with no sign of a palisade. The associated ditch appeared to be designed more for drainage than for defence. The earthworks had the appearance of being unfinished or of never having been used and an examination of the interior produced no evidence of occupation. No positive dating evidence was found, but taking into account its defensive position, its relation to an ancient gap in the nearby Offa's Dyke, its control of a main route into (and from) central Wales, and its place in the national system of defence devised against the Danes, it is possible to conclude that the so called "castle" at Chirbury is probably the fortress built by Ethelflaed at Cyricbyrig or Cyriburh in 915 AD. <6>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 91 Irregular Open Field Systems <15>

Revised Scheduling documentation (2001) implies that this earthwork is not the burh itself, which may have been in the core of the village, but a later, medieval, ringwork. Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a ringwork and associated cultivation remains on the outskirts of the village of Chirbury, to the west of St Michael's Church. The area which is now occupied by the core of the village is considered to have been the site of a fortified enclosure, or burh, and is possibly the place referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Cyricbyrig, which was founded by Aethelflaed (Ethelfleda), sister of Edward the Elder, in AD 915. The existence of this settlement is believed to have influenced the location of the ringwork, which occupies a commanding ridge top position on the opposite side of the steep-sided valley to the west of the village. ->

-> The ringwork would appear to have been originally roughly square, enclosing an area of approximately 0.3ha. The defences are visible as upstanding earthworks on two sides: on the western side by an earthen bank about 10m wide, which stands to height of 1.3m externally and 0.4m internally; and on the northern side by an earthen bank about 5m wide, which stands to a height 0.9m externally and 0.4m internally. The material used for the construction of these banks was obtained from external ditches, approximately 8m wide. Apart from a slight depression along part of the northern side, these ditches have been infilled during the subsequent cultivation of the area and now survive as buried features. The eastern extent of the ringwork is defined by the valley side. Running along the edge of the steepest part of this slope is a low bank, 5m wide, which is considered to be part of the defensive circuit and which was subsequently used as a plough headland (a strip of land defining the edge of an area of cultivation). Along the southern part this side, where the ground slopes more gently, the defences have been levelled by cultivation. Although this part of the defensive circuit is no longer visible at ground level, the buried remains of a bank and an external ditch, both about 8m wide, are thought to survive. The defences defining the southern extent of the ringwork have been modified to some extent by the steep-sided hollow way of the neighbouring road. The original access into the interior of ringwork was via a 4m entrance passage through the western bank. It is associated with an external raised causeway, about 5m wide and 0.7m high, which appears to be a later addition. ->

-> In 1958 a small-scale archaeological excavation was undertaken to examine the nature of the defences and to provide evidence for date of occupation although this proved inconclusive. Extensive remains of post-medieval cultivation strips surround the ringwork on its western and northern sides. A sample of these remains, 15m wide to the north and defined by the later hedge boundary to the west, are included in the scheduling to preserve the relationship between them and the ringwork. ->

-> All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included. <16>

In the light of [<16>] a separate record [PRN 08251] has been created for the site of the burh. <17>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2009-2010. <18>-<21>

Earthwork visible on LiDAR imagery. <22>

In March 2020 a watching brief was conducted during groundworks associated with the construction of a new extension at Bryncaer, across the B4368 to the S of the ringwork. No archaeological finds or features were recorded. <23>

Chirbury Castle, the ancient burh built by Ethelfleda (Aethelflaed) in 915 AD and mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle, lies in a field called "Castle Field" or sometimes "King's Orchard". It is situated west of a bend in the stream and 25 feet above it. <24>

Although the burh is now destroyed its site is clear. This is an elevated platform, contained between two heads of a stream, lying SW of, and very near the church and divided from it by a deep valley. <25>

The site of Chirbury Castle occupies a commanding position in a field now known as the "King's Orchard", between the heads of a fair-sized brook which unite below, thus protecting the three northern sides. On the spur are the remains of a rectangular (and therefore Roman) encampment, of which only two sides remain, one having been removed for the deep cutting of the high road and the other eroded by the encroachment of the brook. <26>

While the rectangular enclosure in "King's Orchard" at SO25889846 may represent the remains of Aethelflaed's burh, in view of the fact that Wainwright could find no dating evidence nor evidence of occupation, and considering the comparatively greater proportions and larger enclosed areas of the earthworks of known Saxon burhs in this country, these earthworks may in fact be no more than what they at first appear to be, i.e. old field boundary banks of medieval or post medieval date, and that the site of Aethelflaed's burh must be looked for elsewhere probably beneath the present village of Chirbury. The enclosure has sides of 60m., and is bounded on the N by a bank, 3.0m in width, 0.3m in height, with an outer ditch, 3.0m in width, 0.2m in depth; on the W side by a scarp, 4.0m in width, up to 6.3m in height with traces of a bank above it; on the E side by scarping of the natural slopes that fall to the brook and on the S side by a modern road cutting. An earthen ramp up the scarp on the W side may be an entrance to the enclosures. No other relevant features were noted within King's Orchard or around the village of Chirbury. <27>

The rectangular enclosure described above was seen as earthworks and mapped from aerial photographs during the Marches Uplands Mapping Project. It has prevsioulsy been described as being 60m across and defined by a single bank, centred at SO 2586 9847. The aerial photographic evidence does suggest that the feature is a medieval or post medieval field however an earlier Medieval date cannot completely be ruled out. A linear field bank is visible running south-westward from the south -west `corner' of the enclosure at SO 2582 9839 (cf. PRN 34197). <28><1>

Sources

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