Tempeston; The Moat (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Beguildy The Moat; Tempseter

In the civil parish of Bettws y Crwyn.
In the historic county of Shropshire.
Modern Authority of Shropshire.
1974 county of Shropshire.
Medieval County of Shropshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO18828051
Latitude 52.41670° Longitude -3.19527°

Tempeston; The Moat 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

The motte and bailey castle south west of The Moat is a well-preserved example of this class of monument. Extensive remains of the structures which stood on the motte and within the bailey are expected to survive, and together with the associated artefacts and organic remains will provide valuable evidence about the activities and the lifestyle of its inhabitants. Organic remains surviving under the motte, the bailey banks, and within the ditches, will also provide information about the changes to the local environment and the use of the land before and after the castle was constructed. The monument remains a prominent feature within the landscape.
The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a motte and bailey castle, situated on the northern side of the valley of the River Teme. It is at the end of a spur of land defined on its north eastern flank by a steep slope created by a stream which flows into the Teme. From this location there are commanding views of the Teme valley and the surrounding uplands. The flat- topped, steep-sided circular motte stands about 7m high and measures approximately 32m across at its base and 12m across the top. It is encircled by a ditch. The bailey, which measures approximately 24m by 28m internally, is defined on its northern side by the steep slope formed by the stream. It is bounded on its southern and eastern sides by a bank and an outer ditch, with a counterscarp bank to the east. A 3m wide causeway into the bailey is situated at the south western corner of the enclosure, between the motte ditch and the bailey defences. (Scheduling Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1019011, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 32325
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 104748.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01188.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Charles Taylor's ecastles (mislocated in Wales)
Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 23
  Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 23
  Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p. 38-9
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 420 (Bettws y Crwyn No. 1)
  Bird, A.J., 1977, History on the Ground (University of Wales Press)
  Rees, W., 1933, Historical map of South Wales and the Borders in the C14
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 391 (Plan)
Periodical Articles
- 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
  Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol. 33 p. 106-12
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 26375
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 30651 (04/06/1986)

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.

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