Upper Pedwardine, Brampton Bryan (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Upper Penwardine

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO36497081
Latitude 52.33169° Longitude -2.93342°

Upper Pedwardine, Brampton Bryan has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Remains of a motte identified at Upper Pedwardine. The mound has been partly destroyed by the erection of a farm building. It appears to have been roughly circular in plan with a diameter of 36yds at the base. It stands on a slope and rises about 8ft above the ground on the higher side. (PastScape)

Motte, diam at base c34m; height 2.3m Mound has been halfcut away by the erection of a farm building (RCHME). Members of the archaeology section of the Woolhope Club visited the site on 14/04/91. Although much has been destroyed by 18th century and modern farm buildings members were able to use existing remains to form a probable ground plan of the castle. A detailed description is given and it would appear that a stump of a tower remains buried in the motte, possibly octangular. The bailey would appear to enclose the present farm yard. A round foundation on the plan is likely to be a dovecote (HAN, 1992). Pedwardine is mentioned in the Shropshire Domesday, papers relating to the Pedwardine manor are in the British Library and National Library of Wales. This is probably a late 12th to mid 13th century castle site. Much has been robbed out and damaged. Vestiges of a round pigeon house and spring fed waterworks can be discerned from aerial photogs. The cattle shed built into the mound has robust stone foundations, possibly relating to the castle (HAN, 2005). (Herefordshire SMR)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 106908.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 188.

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. 69
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 50
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 1, 20
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1
  RCHME, 1934, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 3: north-west p. 21 No. 7 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Sterling Brown, R., 2005, 'Field trip to Lingen and Pedwardine' Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 76 p. 26-36
  Halliwell, P. (ed), 1992, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 57 p. 23
  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

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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.

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