Caswell Moat, Leominster (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castle Moat

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO49875852
Latitude 52.22266° Longitude -2.73495°

Caswell Moat, Leominster has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

"Castle" Moat, 800 yards S of church, 4 sided enclosure surrounded by a dry moat (RCHME) A rescue excavation in advance of building, produced no stonework. Extensive excavations at Castle (corruption of Caswell) moat disclosed no trace of buildings and it must now be presumed to be stock enclosure. Earlier than the moat were a pond? (traced by resistivity survey) and a moat arm. In the filling of each a coin of Eliz I and building rubbish.
Descheduled 1965
"John Hurst looked over the pottery in 1962 seeing only scraps of medieval pottery with 17th-18th century groups such as purple glazed tygs, Westerwald, bellarmines. There were a few glazed floor tiles, also crested ridge tiles.... clay tobacco pipes, many with makers stamps. The assemblage is very small and sherds invariably small." - correspondence from excavator. Substantial earthworks were excavated by Margaret Jones in 1962 before the site was developed. The records and finds, including bone, were reassessed and written up by Derek Hurst under the auspices of the Leominster Historical Society. The earthworks were interpreted as a moat of 14th to 15th century in date, though few structures were defined. Two large ponds were identified on the platform of the moat. It may have belonged to Leominster Priory and been used as a fish farm. It went out of use in 1600 and was filled with medieval building material. The ponds continued to fill in the 17th and 18th centuries. The rubbish included pottery produced in north Herefordshire. Occupation ceased in the 19th century and land drains were lain over the site. (Herefordshire SMR)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 108154.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 542.

Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 196
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 74 (slight)
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 11
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 214 (reject)
  RCHME, 1934, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 3: north-west p. 115 no. 4 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Hurst, Derek, 2002, 'Castle Moat Leominster, Excavation by Margaret Jones in 1962' Leominster History Study Group
  1966, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 1 p. 1
  Hurst, D. Gillian, 1964, 'Medieval Britain in 1962 and 1963, II. Post-Conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 8 p. 271 online copy
  Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 37
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Dalwood, H. and Bryant, V. (eds), 2005, The Central Marches Historic Towns Survey 1992-6 Download online copy

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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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Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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