Madley Motte (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Tumpy Field; Castle Farm

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO41763881
Latitude 52.04461° Longitude -2.85058°

Madley Motte has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Site of a Motte and Bailey. The mound was oval and 43yds long by 33.5yds across at the base, surrounded by a dry ditch and was 9ft in height. In 1964 it was removed for its soil. (PastScape)

Mound, oval form, 43yds long x 33.6 yds across at base. Surrounded by dry ditch and rises to maximum height of 9' below the bottom of the ditch. Ditch is continued to enclose small area to the S. (RCHME) Motte removed for soil. (OS, 1971) Motte and bailey with wet moats. From local description I received, the recently removed motte had stone on its perimeter and from its size may indicate a former shell keep. In the bailey that remains is a low rectangular mound which may mark the site of the former hall or later manor house. There are slight traces of buried foundations in the bailey bank (Stirling Brown). Evaluation in 1989 produced: pottery dated to the 12th-15th century; occupation evidence on the platform within the moat (Trenches III, IV & V); stone rubble and other evidence within the moat (Trench II); further occupation evidence outside the moat, including a hearth and a wall (Trench VIII), post holes and yard surfaces (Trench I). (Jones, 1989) Site visit, documentary research, description and interpretation as part of PhD research by Neil Phillips. Remains are barley recognisable due to later development of the site (Phillips). (Herefordshire SMR)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 107831.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 2241.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Herefordshire Through Time
Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 221
  Phillips, Neil, 2005, Earthwork Castles of Gwent and Ergyng AD 1050-1250 (University of Wales) p. 148 Download from ADS
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 51
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 13
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 209
  1981, Herefordshire Countryside Treasures (Hereford and Worcester County Council) p. 43
  RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 1: south-west p. 198 No. 26 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Shoesmith, R., 1999, 'Archaeology, 1999, Report of Sectional Recorder ' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 49.3 p. 438
  Sterling Brown, 1989, 'Earthworks NW of Madley Church' Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 51 p. 27-30 (plan)
  Sterling Brown, R., 1988, 'Preliminary Results of Castle Survey' Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 50 p. 44
  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
  1924, 'Madley and Whitfield, Fourth Field Meeting, Thursday August 28th' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club p. xxi
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Jones, A., 1989, Madley: an archaeological evaluation.. City of Hereford Archaeology Unit.

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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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