Little Hereford Manor (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO554679
Latitude 52.30794° Longitude -2.65570°

Little Hereford Manor has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Earthworks next to Little Hereford Church. There is controversy as to whether the earthworks is a castle or a DMV. The archaeology section of the Woolhope Club describe a possible small motte alongside the church together with a small inner bailey by the foorbridge over the river Teme. Historians believe this to be the site of King Stephens army camp of 1139-40. (HAN, 1997) Reference to the remains of a motte and bailey surrounded by banks of triangular earthworks in an article about the settlement to the north of the River Teme in the parish of Little Hereford. A triangular earthwork surrounds the site which has a number of explanations including that it was part of the De La Mare castle fee and later a house site, a former village site or erected by the army of King Stephen. The author feels that the latter is the most likely as there is little evidence of house platforms and the earthworks are too extensive for a minor castle fee. (Skelton). (Herefordshire SMR 33648)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 110781.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 7009; 33648; 43945.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Herefordshire Through Time
  Paul Martin Remfry
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 200-1
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 47
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 12
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 213 (possible)
  1981, Herefordshire Countryside Treasures (Hereford and Worcester County Council) p. 10
  RCHME, 1934, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 3: north-west p. xxix (plan), 66 no. 2 online transcription
  Robinson, C.J., 1872, A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire (Logaston Press, 2001 reprint)
Periodical Articles
- Skelton, Rosamund E., 2001, 'Dispersed or nucleated? Settlement in the parish of Little Hereford North of the River Teme 1086 - 1845' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 50.2 p. 144-160
  1997, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 68 p. 42-3
  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 (possible)

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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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