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Myddle Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Middle; Medle

In the civil parish of Myddle And Broughton.
In the historic county of Shropshire.
Modern Authority of Shropshire.
1974 county of Shropshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ46902357
Latitude 52.8061° Longitude -2.7878°

Myddle Castle has been described as a probable Masonry Castle, and also as a certain Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry footings remains.

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

Description

Castle, now ruined. Circa 1307 for Lord Lestrange of Knockin. Dressed red sandstone with rubblestone core and red and grey sandstone ashlar dressings. All that remains is the former north-east corner with the remains of a corner stair turret and two sides of the inner retaining wall of the rectangular moat. There is a small rectangular window in the remains of the northern wall and the jamb of a probable large chamfered cross window with glazing-bar holes in the remains of the eastern wall, possibly the indication of a former first floor hall (cf. Acton Burnell). A moulded trefoil-headed doorway with panelled spandrels leads to the remains of the stair turret which still retains the first few steps of a stone newel stair. There are other chamfered reveals and set backs in the remains of the stair turret to the north. There is a stone inscribed "Repaired by the Rt./Honble John Hume Egerton/ VISCOUNT ALFORD/OCTr.1849/(Henry?) Sheraton Steward." There is a block of dressed grey sandstone on the ground to the east of the remains with a carved shield. Moat retaining wall. Dressed red sandstone with some rubblestone. L-plan. Approximately 46m long and 1.5m high forming the inner retaining wall of the section of the rectangular moat to the east of the remains of Myddle Castle and half of that to the south. The section of wall to the south incorporates various fragments of dressed and carved stone probably from the castle buildings including a block of chamfered stone and what looks like part of a window or door head. Late C20 farmbuildings and a yard with a concrete block wall have been built over the moat up against the eastern section of retaining wall. Lord Lestrange (John le Srange) was given a licence to crenellate in 1307. The Castle probably ceased to be occupied c.1500 as it was described as "veri ruinus" by John Leland when he visited Myddle c.1540. Old photographs (Hey) show the tower standing higher than at present (January 1986) but a former ashlar circular or octagonal battlemented top stage and a part to the north collapsed in 1976. It has been suggested that some of this (particularly the top stage) was a romantic embellishment added during the repair work of 1849.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1308 April 1 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Links to mapping and other online resources
Data >
PastScape   County HER   Scheduling   Listing   I. O. E.
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Sources of information, references and further reading

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.
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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 English Heritage, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. 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.
I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The information within this site is provided freely by me 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 me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
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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.
This record last updated on Friday, May 3, 2013
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