Urishay Castle, Peterchurch (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO32303756
Latitude 52.03230° Longitude -2.98824°

Urishay Castle, Peterchurch has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Urishay Castle - house and earthworks. "A large mound with traces of an outer enclosure on the NE and N. The mound is about 52 yds in diameter at the base and is surrounded by a ditch. It is now occupied by the ruins of a 17th and 18th century house and the sides have been terraced and revetted with 17th century stonework. There is a stone causeway with a culvert crossing the ditch on the SE and remains of a bridge on the NE side. The mound rises about 20ft above the bottom of the ditch. The outer enclosure is represented by traces of terracing and remains of a rampart. Within it stands Urishay Chapel" (RCHME). The house, chapel and castle mound are unchanged but the bailey is no longer visible. To the east of the earthwork is a hollow way approaching the mound transversely up the steep slope. (Field Investigators Comments F1 MHB 21-SEP-71). A survey of the ruined chapel in 1979 confirmed a 12th century dating with partial rebuilding and refurbishing between the 13th and 20th centuries. (Shoesmith, 1979). Intensive archaeological survey of chapel undertaken 1979-83 by the City of Hereford Archaeology Committee funded by DOE (Ancient Monuments Branch) during structural consolidation of walling in danger of collapse. Original rectangular building now appears to be of late 11th or early 12th century date, with an apsidal east end. Ownership now with the Friends of Friendless Churches who have undertaken a partial restoration. A reassessment of Urishay Castle, a house previously dated to the 17th and 18th century (see RCHME) suggests an earlier date for parts of the surviving fabric. (See also SO 33 NW 41). (Shoesmith, 1987). The earthwork remains of the motte and part of the bailey enclosure described by the previous authorities were seen centred at SO 3230 3756 and mapped from aerial photographs. The remains of a trackway can be seen leading from the bailey eastwards. This is thought to be associated with the remains of the DMV of Urishay and are recorded separately in SO33NW 41. (PastScape)

The site would appear to be a fortified-site, however, having glimpsed the shape of the mound from a distance it is not possible to dismiss the idea that it may have been a motte. (Phillips 2005)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1014547, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 27516
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 105825.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 598.

Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 238-42
  Prior, Stuart, 2006, A Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War (Tempus) p. 110-164
  Phillips, Neil, 2005, Earthwork Castles of Gwent and Ergyng AD 1050-1250 (University of Wales) p. 345-6 Download from ADS
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 476
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 65
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 14
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 211
  1981, Herefordshire Countryside Treasures (Hereford and Worcester County Council) p. 44
  Pevsner, N., 1963, Buildings of England: Herefordshire (Harmondsworth)
  RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 1: south-west p. 211, 213-4 No. 5 online transcription
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Gould, I. Chalkley, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Herefordshire Vol. 1 p. 254-5
  Robinson, C.J., 1869, The Castles of Herefordshire and Their Lords (London: Longman) p. 130 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Shoesmith, R., 1987, 'Urishay Chapel' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 45.3 p. 686-720
  1985, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 43 p. 14-15 (plan)
  Tonkin, J.W., 1982, 'Herefordshire Castles' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 44.1 p. 31-35 (esp 34)
  Shoesmith, R., 1979, 'Archaeology 1979, Report of Sectional Recorder' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 43.1 p. 69-70, 72
  1967, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 2 p. 1
  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
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk West Midlands Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 3 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk West Midlands Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 3 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 4 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 4 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 20, 25 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 20, 24 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 19, 23 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 29, 33 online copy

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
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.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

Data >	PastScape	County HER	Scheduling
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	V. O. B.	Geology	LiDAR	Open Domesday
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio