Eaton Camp, Eaton Bishop (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO454393
Latitude 52.04939° Longitude -2.79759°

Eaton Camp, Eaton Bishop has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a Masonry Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Promontory camp on S bank of Wye at junction with Cage Brook. Triangular form c18 acres (internal) steep natural slope forms only defence on N & SE sides except for length of scarp at S angle. Slight mound at E apex of triangle. Base of promontory on W side defended by rampart, somewhat denuded towards N end but average height of 11' towards S. Return scarp at NW angle may indicate position of original entrance. Members of the archaeology section of the Woolhope Club visited the site to discuss the possibility of that it was also once the site of a castle. They noted the presence of a large mound within the interior of the fort. Loose stone lay on top of the mound and at its base and there appeared to be the remains of wall foundations extending from the mound on both banks of the fort. Possibly medieval, certainly later than iron age in date as there are traces of mortar and lime? (Herefordshire SMR)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1001756, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number he10
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 107794.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 907.

Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 119
  Phillips, Neil, 2005, Earthwork Castles of Gwent and Ergyng AD 1050-1250 (University of Wales) p. 192 (reject) Download from ADS
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 27
  RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 1: south-west p. 62 (plan) no. 13 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Shoesmith, R., 1999, 'Archaeology, 1999, Report of Sectional Recorder' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 49.3 p. 435-6
  Archaeological Research Section Woolhope NFC, 1996, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 65 p. 28-9
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 21 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 31 online copy

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It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. 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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely 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.

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