Caer Caradoc (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Caradoc Court; Caircradoke

In the civil parish of Sellack.
In the historic county of Herefordshire.
Modern Authority of Herefordshire.
1974 county of Hereford and Worcester.
Medieval County of Herefordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO55862748
Latitude 51.94406° Longitude -2.64354°

Caer Caradoc has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

Description

On the Tithe Award 'Castle Meadow' and 'Castle Wood' are both near Caradoc Court, the reputed site of the home of the British chief Caradoc Vraich-Vras, or Strong Arm, a knight of King Arthur's round table. Early nineteenth-century Directories are mainly quite confident that Caradoc occupies the site of a castle. However, the earliest documentary reference to Caradoc occurs in 1291 when Roger de Somery died, seized of the manor of Caircradoke in Irchenfield. (Shoesmith)

Comments

The castle place names clearly relate to demense holdings of Caradoc Court. This is a C16/C17 house, badly damaged in a fire in 1986 although now fully restored, but clearly built on the site of an earlier manorial site of some status and, therefore, probably with some fortifications and certainly a castle in the sense of an administrative manorial centre with court. It may be that the dismissal of the folklore and mythology associated with the site has lead authors to overlook the actual medieval history. The Caer Caradoc name (and the Authurian association) however probably originally relate a nearby Iron Age Hill at Gaer Cop in Hentland CP. This does not prevent Caradoc Court from being a medieval manorial centre, with or without some fortification.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1214935
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 109758.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 6442; 31699.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Landscape Origins of the Wye Valley
Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 253
  Shoesmith, R. and Morriss, R.N., 2000, 'Caradoc Court' in Whitehead, D. and Eisel, J. (eds), A Herefordshire Miscellany (Lapridge, Hereford)
  RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 1: south-west p. 236-7 no. 2 online transcription
  Robinson, C.J., 1872, A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire
Periodical Articles
- Sprackling, G. and Lesser, I., 1996, 'Field-Names as archaeological indicators of defensive sites' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 48.3 p. 475
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Shoesmith, R. and Morriss, R.N., 1989, Caradoc Court, Interim Report. City of Hereford Archaeology Unit.

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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.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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