Clifford Old Castleton (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castellaria de Cliford

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO283456
Latitude 52.10517° Longitude -3.04758°

Clifford Old Castleton 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

Medieval motte and bailey seen as earthworks. The motte is 40 metres in diameter. The bailey measures 60 metres east to west by 40 metres north to south and is bounded by a large rampart, 11 metres to 20 metres in width and 2 to 4 metres in height internally but rising to 3.5 metres to 4 metres above the base of an outer ditch, 10 metres in width and 1.8 to 3 metres in depth. The original entrance is through the south side. The castle may have been built between 1067 and 1070. Worcester-type cooking pot fragments have been recovered from the spoil of a badger sett on the site and date from 1100 at the earliest. (PastScape)

'The configuration of the site would suggest that a natural ridge above the River Wye was chosen as a suitable place for a defensive structure. It is also possible that the site was located from the river, because it is known to flood up to the bottom of the ridge... The first structure built was the ring-work possibly making a defended enclosure for a garrison in hostile country. It has been suggested that this site was chosen to guard the north entrance to the Golden Valley as a precursor to the more established stone castle at Clifford (Purser 1994. 73). This would obviously date the site to pre-1071 as part of fitz Osbern's control measures. At a later stage, possibly post 1100 but probably 1140-1180, the motte was added, possibly as a private fortress for the owner, possibly as a watch tower. It is possible that the site may have been a riverside castle; possibly a change in the river's course may have led to the decline of this site.' (Phillips)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1005524, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number he44
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 104842.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1015.

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. 90-1
  Phillips, Neil, 2005, Earthwork Castles of Gwent and Ergyng AD 1050-1250 (University of Wales) p. 280-2 Download from ADS
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 35
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 103 (slight)
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 2
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 203
  1981, Herefordshire Countryside Treasures (Hereford and Worcester County Council) p. 21
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 209
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 144
  RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 1: south-west p. xxxvi, 38-9 No. 2 (plan) online transcription
  Gould, I. Chalkley, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Herefordshire Vol. 1 p. 234-5
Periodical Articles
- Purser, T.S., 1994, 'Castles of Herefordshire, 1066-1135' Medieval History Vol. 4 p. 72-90
  Halliwell, P. (ed), 1991, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 56 p. 26-7 (plan)
  Sterling Brown, R., 1988, 'Preliminary Results of Castle Survey' Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 50 p. 41
  Renn, D.F., 1964, 'The first Norman Castles in England 1051-1071' Château Gaillard Vol. 1 p. 125-132
  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
  Marshall, G., 1938, 'The Norman Occupation of the Lands in the Golden Valley. Ewyas, and Clifford, and their Motte and Bailey Castles' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club p. 155 online transcription
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- 1086, Domesday Book Di, 183a. 2 (1086 – probably built 1067-70. May refer to Old Castleton rather than Clifford Castle) 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.

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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