Bretchel; The Beacon (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Alberbury With Cardeston.
In the historic county of Shropshire.
Modern Authority of Shropshire.
1974 county of Shropshire.
Medieval County of Shropshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ33631182
Latitude 52.69997° Longitude -2.98358°

Bretchel; The Beacon has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The motte castle south west of Bretchel survives well and is a good example of its class. It will retain archaeological information relating to its construction and occupation. Environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which it was constructed will survive sealed on the old land surface beneath the motte and in the ditch fill. Such motte castles, when considered either as single monuments or as a part of a broader landscape, contribute valuable information concerning the settlement pattern, economy and social structure of the countryside during the medieval period.
The monument includes the remains of a small motte castle situated on the summit of a small hill overlooking, to the south, the main east to west valley routeway between Shrewsbury and Welshpool. It includes a small, steep sided castle mound, or motte, of earth and rubble construction, roughly circular in plan with a base diameter of 15m. The motte summit stands 3m above the surrounding natural land surface and has a diameter of approximately 8m. A ditch, from which material for the construction of the mound was quarried, remains visible as a slight surface depression 3m wide and 0.1m deep surrounding the motte. (Scheduling Report)

The Beacon at Bretchel is a very small motte with traces of a ditch, but none of a bailey. It is about 25ft across its damaged top by 8-10ft high (Spurgeon and King)
As described by Spurgeon and King, although all traces of a ditch have now gone. OS FI 1971 (Ordnance Survey Record Card 1977)
Small rectangular bailey visible as cropmark attached to SE side of motte. Possible entrance on its E side. The motte ditch also shows as a cropmark (Field Monument Warden Report 1986). (Shropshire HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1013487, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19230
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 66554.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01081.

Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 30-31
  Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 87 (slight)
  Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p. 5
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 433 (Wollaston No. 3)
  Eyton, R.W., 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 7 p. 126 online copy
Periodical Articles
- King, D.J.C. and Spurgeon, C.J., 1965, 'The mottes in the Vale of Montgomery' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 114 p. 81-2
  Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 112 p. 77-124
  Chitty, Lily, 1949, 'Subsidiary Castle Sites West of Shrewsbury' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society Vol. 53 p. 83-90
  1892, Shropshire Notes and Queries Vol. 1 p. 34
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 31 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 31 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 41 online copy
  English Heritage, 1995, Scheduling Papers (Affirmation, 15/11/1995)
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 21042

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
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