Monument Type(s):

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

Summary

The remains of a small medieval motte and bailey (earthwork castle), the construction of which appears never to have been completed.

Related records: None recorded

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4444 - 1973 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA4445 - 1976 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA5786 - 1999 Site visit by English Heritage MPP Fieldworker to Middlehope Castle, Shropshire

Description

Much mutilated motte and bailey at Middlehope. A small motte stands within the circuit of a moat which is bisected by the modern road. Outside the best preserved part of the moat to the south is a fragment of bank, and beyond the north side of the moat is another small mound. <1a>

Early castle, Middlehope. <1b>

A possible short length of the NE side of the enclosure, adjoining the present road, is visible on air photographs. <1c>

A very small motte within a circular bailey, situated upon a small ridge, in pastureland. The earthworks have been reduced and spread by ploughing and mutilated by the cutting of a road. The motte is 13.0m in diameter and 1.0m high, and is placed towards the S side of the bailey, which is roughly 50.0m in diameter. A fragment of the bailey ditch remains of the N side but it is best preserved around the S side, where it is 10.0m wide and 1.3m deep. It is turned outwards presumably to cover the original entrance in the E side. A fragment of inner bank remains on the NW side, 3.0m wide, 0.5m high and the remains of an outer bank on the SW side measure 6.0m in width and 1.3m in height. There is a similar short stretch to the NE but is much reduced by ploughing. Beyond the site, 15.0m to the N, is an isolated circular mound, 13.0m in diameter and 0.7m in height with a hollowed centre, probably the site of a building. <1d>

Site in permanent pasture. The motte is extremely small and low and appears almost useless if it is in its original state. The bailey bank on the NE does not appear to be complete or to line up with the bailey ditch on the S and SE. This is interpreted by the OS [<1c>] as an entrance, but an alternative interpretation would be that the castle was never completed. I Burrow FI 1976 <4>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 46 Motte and Bailey castles. <7>

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a motte and bailey castle, occupying an elevated position in Hope Dale. A very small circular motte about 13m in diameter and standing 0.7m high is surrounded by an oval bailey 44m by 50m (maximum dimensions), which is defined by continuous sections of bank and ditch with a possible entrance causeway through the north eastern part of the circuit. In 1976 the then County Archaeological Officer, Ian Burrow, considered that the castle was unfinished [<4>] as it could not have functioned effectively in its current state. Field inspection supports this interpretation. The monument is bisected by a lane within a deep cutting. <8>

Photographed during aerial photographic survey in 2008. <9>-<12>

The site is perhaps degraded rather than unfinished. The 2010 vertical GIS aerial photographs indicate that the bailey ditch is complete, though degraded (probably due to agriculture) on the NE and N sides. The motte has almost the appearance of a ringwork though at 13m it is somewhat small (possibly the remains of a tower?). Another circular feature 10m in diameter to the NW of the bailey and a rectangular feature 16m by 7m to the W also appear on the AP. <13>

The earthwork remains of the small motte and bailey described by the previous authorities was seen centred at SO 4987 8863 and mapped from aerial photographs. <14><6>

Listed by Cathcart King. <15>

Sources

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