Walelege (The Gatehouse Record)

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

Walelege has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are uncertain remains.

Comments

This probably means Wood of the Welsh. Numerous sites have been suggested including Ailey in Kinnersley parish (Renn - there is no archaeological evidence but there is an Old Castle Farm at SO33554846); Welshwood Farm, Brilley (Shoesmith, 1996); Lemore Martins Castle, Eardisley; Brilley Green Motte. Clearly such a scant historical reference will always leave some uncertainty. The house was held by Gilbert Fitz-Turold and had been given to him by William Fitz-Osbern. Only two of the four hides were geldable. There appears to have been no agricultural activity, and like Herdeslege it was situated in a dense forest.

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1077.

Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 14
  Shoesmith, Ron, 1996, Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 213 (Walelege as vanished castle)
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 337
  Nelson, L.H., 1966, The Normans in South Wales (University of Texas Press) p. 71 online copy
  Walters, H.B., 1908, 'Romano-British Herefordshire' in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Herefordshire Vol 1 p. 341
Periodical Articles
- Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' The English Historical Review Vol. 106 p. 371-392 view online copy (subscription required)
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Thorn, F., and Thorn, C. (eds), 1983, Domesday Book: Herefordshire (Chichester: Phillimore) 25:9 online copy
  Williams, A. and Erskine, R.W.H. (eds), 1986-92, Great Domesday Book (Alecto Historical Edition) fol. 187

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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.

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