Monument Type(s):

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

Summary

Scheduled Monument: The site of the medieval castle at the heart of medieval Oswestry, of which the motte (mound) and associated ruined structures can still be seen. See also PRN 00332.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA5052 - 1995 assessment of land at Central Car Park, Oswestry by Giffords
• ESA5938 - 1890s observations of damp waterlogged ground on the Municipal Buildings site
• ESA7366 - 2014 Trial trench at Oswestry Castle by Oswestry and Borders History and Archaeology Group / SAP Archaeology
• ESA8226 - 2016 Trial trenching on Oswestry Castle Mound by SAP Archaeology and Oswestry Borders History and Archaeology Group
• ESA7674 - 2015 Trench on Oswestry Castle mound by SAP Archaeology
• ESA8436 - 2017 Excavation on top of Oswestry Castle by SAP Archaeology/Oswestry and Border History and Archaeology Group
• ESA9348 - 2018 GPR survey at Oswestry Castle by Bartlett Clark Consultancy/Archaeological Survey West

Description

CMHTS Comment:- Medieval castle component, contains earthwork of the motte [PRN 00332] and a poorly defined bailey to the east. The component contains the medieval Court House [PRN 05742]. The castle had large S bailey which was used for earliest burgage plots; the defences have been defined [PRN 05780] but not defined as part of castle component. The defences of the east bailey have been partly defined [PRN 05781]. However the urban component is defined as smaller area, defined by tenement plot components and extrapolation. Castle built c1070, demolished 1650 (cf PRN 00332) then became open space and market place (cf PRN 05809 and 05840). Field investigation (November 1994) showed NW and north of component is defined by terrace wall revetting the castle area. This wall is 2m high. The ground slopes evenly but fairly steeply from flat and level bailey area in all directions (ie SW, SE and NE), although there is much terracing in backyard areas which breaks up natural slope; however basic topography is apparent in slope of streets (ie Arthur Street, Bailey Street, Albion Hill, Powis Place) <1>

Excavations in Horse Market and Chapel Street located ditch around motte [PRN 05807, 05808). Also showed town wall crossed castle ditch <2>

CMHTS Report <3>

Castle motte Scheduling revised in 2000. Relevant parts of Scheduling description [see also PRN 00332]: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a motte, which was originally part of a motte and bailey castle, the ruins of a stone keep built upon its summit and an adjoining portion of the town wall. ->

-> The castle is referred to as 'castelle Lurve' in the Domesday Survey and was constructed by Reginald, Sheriff of Shropshire. Throughout the medieval period the estate of Maesbury (Oswestry) was held by the FitzAlan family, who developed their landholding into the marcher lordship of Oswestry by the late 12th century. The castle was never used as a principle residence of the FitzAlans, but served as a depot for major campaigns against the Welsh, as well as forming the base for a defensive force of light cavalry. The castle was strengthened at the end of the 13th century, but its military significance declined shortly afterwards, although it was used to muster Welsh troops for the war in France in the 14th and 15th centuries. The castle was the scene of a parliament held by Richard II in 1398. It was garrisoned by Royalist troops during the Civil War, but was slighted by Cromwellian forces in 1644, and had been largely demolished by about 1650. ->

-> A natural isolated oval mound, probably of glacial origin, has been adopted and utilised to form the motte … Upon the summit and around the top are the in situ and collapsed remnants of the stone keep possibly dating to the 13th century, replacing earlier structures probably built of timber … ->

-> The castle bailey, which lies to the south of the motte, probably served as the initial focus for the development of the town. The town had certainly grown beyond the original limits of the castle bailey before the second half of the 13th century when the town walls were constructed. The location of the bailey is recorded in the street names Bailey Street and Bailey Head, although its exact extent is not certain and is therefore not included in the scheduling. ->

-> An archaeological excavation … [found] … a small section of a substantial wall, thought to be part of the 13th century town defences … The wall would appear to overlie the remains of the motte ditch and it thus post-dates the construction of the motte … ->

-> A number of features are excluded from the scheduling, these are; the surfaces of all modern paths, all modern fences and railings, the floodlights and the Victorian fountain to the south of the mound; the ground beneath all these features is, however, included <4>

The castle formed the focus for the development of a new town by c. 1100. The town may have originally developed within a large bailey to the south of the castle, in a similar fashion to Bridgnorth. The earliest recorded charter was granted between 1190 and 1200 to the burgesses of 'Blancminster' (apparently an alternative name for Oswestry). The military significance of the castle was reduced from the end of the thirteenth century, but it was used to muster Welsh troops for war in France in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. <5>

Photographed during aerial photographic survey in 2009. <6>

A single evaluation trench was excavated by hand in the lawned area just south of Oswestry castle mound, behind the Town Wall to a depth of 1m. This trench was positioned across a linear earthwork running across this area, postulated as a wing wall. The wing wall was not located, with the trench recording a significant depth of Victorian dumping in this area. <7>

Subsequently, trenches have been excavated in 2015, 2016 and 2017, on top of the castle mound. These have revealed the substantial footings of a square Anglo-Norman keep - see PRN 00332. This has suggested that the site of the castle was originally much larged than first thought, and much of its infrastructure lay down slope off the top of the mound. Research into this, and review of documentary sources, is ongoing. <8>

A ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey was undertaken at Oswestry Castle, in 2018 as part of ongoing investigations of the castle site and its surroundings, by the Oswestry Castle Community Research Group (OCCRP). The survey area included as much as possible of the former Horse Market, present car park adjacent to the castle, and areas of accessible ground on and beneath the castle mound. The survey responded well to the surviving foundations of the castle keep, and identified linear features which could potentially represent wall footings or structural reamins in the areas surveyed at the foot of the castle mound. <9>

Photographed during aerial survey in 2021. <10>

Sources

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