Scheduled Monument: A good example of a Norman motte castle overlooking the River Clun.
Mutilated remains of a small motte within a meadow, has a base diameter of about 28m and a present max height of 3.2m, but the mound has been quarried into extensively on the E and S sides. On the E side are traces of what may have been a ditch, 10m wide, 0.3m deep, which connects with stream on the S side. <1a>
Small mount 13ft high, the summit is hollowed to a depth of 4ft; no trace of a ditch <2a>
Low mound; excavations revealed layers of ash, with pottery, (some pronounced Norman, with glaze) and fragments of a stone mortar. A 4 and 3/4" pin, possibly, also came from the tumulus. <2b>
Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 43 Motte castles <5>
Scheduling revised in 1995. Scheduling description: ->
-> The monument includes the remains of a small motte castle situated on the east bank of the River Clun in close proximity to St Cuthbert's Parish Church. It includes a castle mound, or motte, originally circular in plan with a diameter of approximately 28m rising to an irregular surfaced summit 3.2m high. There are old quarrying scars on the east and south sides of the motte which distort the shape of the mound. Around the east side of the mound are traces of a surrounding ditch up to 10m wide and 0.3m deep, from which material for the construction of the mound would have been quarried. This will continue as a buried feature around the north and west sides of the motte. Immediately south of the motte a small stream runs westwards close to the south side of the mound. The straightness of the stream course suggests that it follows a man-made channel which is of later date than the motte.->
-> The southern portion of the buried ditch, south of the present course of the stream and disturbed both by the stream and by a later sewage drain, is excluded from the scheduling <6>
Excavations in 2012 to renew the drainage on land adjacent to Clungunford Motte identified no archaeological features either within or outside the scheduled area. No finds were recovered other than a section of beam of unknown provenance which was deposited in the original trench cut for the drainage pipe some 20 years previous. <9>
Photographed during aerial survey in 2009-2010. <10><11>
The earthwork remains of this small Medieval motte were seen centred at SO 3956 7878 and mapped from aerial photographs as part of the RCHME: Marches Uplands Mapping Project. The eastern half of the motte was obscured by shadow so could not be mapped. <13><13a>
| [00] | SSA20722 - Card index: Shropshire County Council SMR. Site and Monuments Record (SMR) cards. SMR record cards. SMR Card for PRN SA 01166. |
| [01a] | SSA31554 - Site visit report: Ordnance Survey Field Investigator. Various. NRHE: Ordnance Survey Field Investigators Comments. F1 ASP 15-OCT-73. |
| [01] | SSA4632 - Card index: Ordnance Survey. 1973. Ordnance Survey Record Card SO37NE30 . Ordnance Survey record cards. SO37NE30 . |
| [02a] | SSA178 - Volume: Page W (ed). 1908. Victoria County History Volume 1. Victoria County History of Shropshire. Vol 1. p385 with plan. |
| [02b] | SSA244 - Monograph: Renn D F. 1968. Norman Castles of Britain. p148. |
| [02bii] | SSA4630 - Article in serial: Rocke T O. 1863. Article in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. J Brit Archaeol Ass. Ser 1, Vol 19. p317-319. p317-19, 112. |
| [02bi] | SSA4631 - Article in serial: Rocke T O. 1874. Clungunford Tumulus. Archaeologia Cambrensis. Ser 4, Vol 5 (Vol 29). p123-127. p123-27. |
| [02] | SSA4635 - Field Monument Warden Report: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (HBMC). 1987-Aug-06. Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 32992 (06/08/1987). |
| [03] | SSA500 - Monograph: Hartshorne C H. 1841. Salopia Antiqua. p102-106. |
| [04] | SSA4633 - Scheduled Monument notification: Department of the Environment (DoE). 1976. Map of Scheduled area, 1976. |
| [05] | SSA20084 - TEXT: Horton Wendy B. 1990/ 1991. MPP Evaluation File. |
| [06] | SSA4634 - Scheduled Monument notification: English Heritage. 1995. Scheduling Papers (Revised Scheduling, 01/11/1995). 19199. |
| [07] | SSA21429 - Oblique aerial photograph: Musson Chris R. 2000-Mar-05. CPAT 00/MB/2004. Black and White. Medium. |
| [08] | SSA21430 - Oblique aerial photograph: Musson Chris R. 2000-Mar-05. CPAT 00/MB/2005 to 2007 (3 photos). Black and white. Medium. |
| [09] | SSA23990 - Watching brief report: Frost Pat. 2012. Clungunford Motte drainage renewal, Clungunford, Shropshire. Castlering Archaeol Rep. |
| [10] | SSA26095 - Oblique aerial photograph: Shropshire Council. 2009-Mar-20. SA0906_80 to SA0906_84 (5 photos) Flight: 09_SA_06. Colour. Digital. |
| [11] | SSA26643 - Oblique aerial photograph: Shropshire Council. 2010-Mar-7. SA1004_225 (1 photo) Flight: 10_SA_04. Colour. Digital. |
| [12] | SSA29017 - Monograph: Cathcart King D J. 1983. Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume II : Norfolk-Yorkshire and the islands. Vol 2. Vol2, p424. |
| [13] | SSA31570 - COLLECTION: Historic England. 1993-1994. NRHE: RCHME: Marches Uplands NMP. MU.282.13. |
| [13a] | SSA31574 - Vertical aerial photograph: Historic England / Ordnance Survey. c.1960-1980. NRHE: Ordnance Survey Aerial Photographs held by Historic England Archive. Black and white. OS/73069 552-553 10-APR-1973. |