Redcastle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

Begun 1227 for Henry de Audley, Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire with romantic additions of C18. Regularly coursed and dressed red sandstone; now roofless. Situated on 2 narrow ridges of rock with a deep ravine between, separated into upper and lower wards by a deep rock-cut ditch running at right-angles across ravine. Apart from the Great Tower and a smaller turret at north-east corner, only fragments of towers and curtain wall survive. Great Tower: still stands to considerable height: circular plan with chamfered plinth to bottom and rectangular slits to tower. Deep well beneath, hollowed out of sandstone as is bottom part of tower, approached by adit created c.1780. The height of the tower was increased by either Sir Rowland or Sir Richard Hill in late C18 to make it a more conspicuous object in the view from Grotto Hill, but it has again been reduced and what now survives (March 1986) appears to be largely medieval work. North-east tower: only a fragment of small circular tower survives. 2 similar towers formerly guarded south-east and south- west angles of lower ward but the former has now almost completely disappeared above ground and the latter is very fragmentary. Traces of curtain wall on ridges to east and west with more substantial fragment spanning ditch between upper and lower wards on west. The site is very overgrown and apparently has never been systematically investigated, making it difficult to distinguish between medieval work and C18 'romantic' additions. The natural defences are very impressive, probably never needing much strengthening except on south, and can be compared with those at Heighley Castle (Staffs), also begun by Henry de Audley. Licence to crenellate granted to Henry de Audley in 1227.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1227 Aug 17 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1020850, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 34928
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1237180
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 70617.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01140.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Raving Loony Productions
Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 131-35
  Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 66-7
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 476
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 219 (slight)
  Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p. 46-8 (plan)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 428
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 283
  Curtis, R.A., 1972 (2edn), Monumental Follies p. 154-6
  Pevsner, N., 1958, Buildings of England: Shropshire (London, Penguin) p. 146
  Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p. 134
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 410
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 149-50 online copy
  Leach, Francis, 1891, County Seats of Shropshire (Shrewsbury) p. 9-10
  Stackhouse-Acton, Frances, 1868, The Castles and Old Mansions of Shropshire (Shrewsbury) p. 19
  Edwards, E., 1858, Notes on the Castellated Structures of Shropshire p. 30-1
  (Hill), n.d., Some Account of the Antiquities of Hawkstone (Shrewsbury) p. 15-54
Periodical Articles
- Arrol, A. and Snell, A., 1981, 'Hawkstone Park and the Red Castle' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 138 p. 43-4
  Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 116 p. 71-132
  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 (Late–attributed to origin in C12 but regarded as later)
  1958 July 3, Country Life p. 20-1
  Anon, 1898, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society p. 121
  Phillips, W., 1896, 'Red Castle, Shropshire' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol. 2 p. 126-9 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1903, Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1903, Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry III (1225-32) Vol. 2 p. 138 online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1895, Calendar of Close Rolls Edward II (1318-1323) Vol. 3 p. 432, 542 view online copy (requires subscription but searchable) alternative online copy
  Caley J. and J. Bayley, J. (eds), 1821, Calendarium inquisitionum post mortem sive escaetarum ... Vol. 3. (1377-1413) 12 Hen. IV No. 36 online copy
  Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) (lists sources for 1272-1422) p. 418-9
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 397
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 13 online copy
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. 30 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 29 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 30 online copy
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1985, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 17053

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