Byton Motte (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO37056412
Latitude 52.27144° Longitude -2.92336°

Byton Motte has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

This mound appears to be the same as the mound identified as the site of Byton motte, a late 13th century motte built in response to the depredations of Llewelyn ap Grufydd. The motte stands on a ridge and has a small rectangular enclosure with a structure interpreted as a chapel, known to have survived into the 19th century. The mote rises 25 feet above the stream to the east. The top of the motte appears to supported a keep. There is a platform on the south side which may mark the site of a gatehouse. (PastScape ref. Remfry)

Just to the south of Byton church can be found what is described as a motte with traces of a former shell keep and possible gatehouse to the South. The bailey to the north of the motte includes the present church. At the south end of the bailey is evidence of a small gatehouse with twin towers, like that at Brampton Bryan Castle. Documentary sources date the castle to c. 1190. (Herefordshire Through Time)

Despite this apparently convincing description there has always been some debate about this site. Identified by Stirling-Brown in 1967 but not seemingly published until well after the publication of D.J.C. King's Castellarium Anglicanum.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1396809.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 11169.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Herefordshire Through Time
Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 85
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 19
  Remfry, Paul Martin, 1999, Nine castles of Burford Barony, 1048 to 1308 (SCS Publishing: Worcestershire) p. 21-2
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 2
Periodical Articles
- Halliwell, P.R. (ed), 1992, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 58 p. 29-31

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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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