Wigmore Lodge Wood Mound (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO38596943
Latitude 52.31979° Longitude -2.90232°

Wigmore Lodge Wood Mound has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a Siege Work although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Mutilated mound surrounded by ditch discovered on aerial photos. Circular, rises above ditch on N to height of some 1.5m. On S to 1m. Traces of internal bank, mutilated & indistinct. Overall diam of mound 30m, top has diam of 22m. Ditch: 0.8m deep, 2 modern breaks on W, prob to drain it. No evidence of bailey. (Historic Herefordshire on line)

The site was examined by Roger Stirling Brown. It consists of a low circular mound surrounded by a wet ditch. There appears to be a bailey to the east, virtually disappeared. There is evidence of buried and partly exposed stonework on the mound and buried stone in the bottom of the ditch. (Herefordshire SMR 33818)

A circular mound of uncertain date and origin, surrounded by a ditch, is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs. Field investigators found the mound to be in bad condition. Its appearance suggests a possible Medieval motte, but was not depicted on Ordnance Survey maps until the 1976. It may be a natural feature. (PastScape)

Comments

The site is identifed twice (in a manner that suggests two sites) by both Shoesmith and Herefordshire SMR once in Walford, Letton and Newton CP and once in Wigmore CP. It does appear, in fact, to be in Wigmore CP.
Presumably the identification as a motte was based on the idea this could be outwork or siege castle of Wigmore. If this isolated mound half way up a steep hillside and with no view of Wigmore Castle is a medieval fortification it is most unusual in it's location which cannot have any strategic value either for an outwork or a siege castle of Wigmore, and is tactically weak. Gatehouse suspects it may be a feature associated with medieval hunting (it is within the deer park of Wigmore), or small disused quarry and spoil heap.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 106422.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2539; 33818.

Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 274, 302
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 25 (plan)
Periodical Articles
- Halliwell, P. (ed), 1992, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 57 p. 12

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
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