Edwyn Ralph (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Edvin Ralph; Edwin Ralph

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO64415745
Latitude 52.21411° Longitude -2.52245°

Edwyn Ralph has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A circular mound densely covered by vegetation at SO 64405745 is 2.1m high and 30.0m in diameter. It is surrounded by a ditch 1.9m deep and 50.0m in diameter. The mound shows no evidence of a building. To the north at SO 64395749 are the foundations of a building but it is unlikely that they are contemporary with the mound. To the north and west there is evidence of a DMV. A rectangular depression at SO 64375753 measures 60.0m by 30.0m on an East- West axis. To the east of this is a pentagonal pitched enclosure displaying "Rig and Furrow" in the interior. A ditch, to the west of the moated mound, has an average width of 6.0m, and apparently connects with the rectangular depression. (PastScape ref. Field Investigators Comments F1 DRB 12-JUL-70)

Moat 100 yds W of church, circular encloses island about 40 yds diam. Traces of outer enclosure on N & NW (RCHME) Motte 2.1m high, 30m diam, no evidence of building. Ditch 1.9m deep. 50m diam. SO6439 5749 are foundations of building. New schedule suggests that is motte and bailey, castle, inside bailey evidence of buildings. On N ditch enlarged either as quarry or fishponds. To S of motte r & F. Earthworks between motte & church may be DMV (Scheduling Record).
Ringwork & bailey. Foundations mostly buried of large shell keep on the former low ringwork. Indic of a substantial stone barbican. The bailey poss walled in stone on the earlier earth rampart, though only loose stone left to indicate it. Partly C12 church in one of the several outer enclosures (Sterling Brown). (Herefordshire SMR)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1005371, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number he165
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 112472.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1006.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Herefordshire Through Time
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 120
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 28
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 6 (plan)
  1981, Herefordshire Countryside Treasures (Hereford and Worcester County Council) p. 28
  RCHME, 1932, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 2: east p. 77 no. 2 online transcription
  Gould, I. Chalkley, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Herefordshire Vol. 1 p. 237 (plan)
Periodical Articles
- 1997, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 67 p. 36-40 (revised plan)
  1993, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 59 p. 14 (plan)
  Sterling Brown, R., 1988, 'Preliminary Results of Castle Survey' Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 50 p. 44
  Stanford, S.C., 1967, 'Deserted Medieval Village of Hampton Wafer, Herefordshire' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 39.1 p. 91

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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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