Little Shrawardine Motte (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Alberbury 2

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ393151
Latitude 52.7298° Longitude -2.899°

Little Shrawardine Motte has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Medieval motte and bailey castle surviving as an earthwork. The flat-topped, steep-sided oval motte stands about 9.0m high, measuring approximately 45m by 60m across at its base, and 12 by 6.0m across at the top. It is surrounded by a ditch on all sides apart from but the North side. The bailey, to the North-East of the motte, is 40m by 65m. It was used as an observation post in World War II.

The motte and bailey existed before 1165, as expenditure on repairs is recorded after 1165 and it was rebuilt in 1220. There are fragments of a square keep on the motte, mainly rubble, apart form an ashlar face with partly buried relieving arch. Both this and other stonework found on the site may be C12 (Renn 1973)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument number 1019198, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 32330
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 66473.
County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01091.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Jeff Thomas's Castles of Wales
Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 99-100
  Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 51
  Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p. 52
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 420
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 311
  Rees, W., 1933, Historical map of South Wales and the Borders in the C14
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 390 (plan)
Periodical Articles
- King, D.J.C. and Spurgeon, C.J., 1965, 'The mottes in the Vale of Montgomery' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 114 p. 82-3
  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
  Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 211 online copy
  Eyton, R.W., 1887, 'The castles of Shropshire' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 10 p. 30-1
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 32 online copy
  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, 2000, Scheduling Papers (Revision, 07/06/2000)
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1985, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 17061

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