Ponthendre, Longtown (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Ewyas Lacy; Pont-hendre; Pont Hendre; Castelli de Ewais

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO32562812
Latitude 51.94757° Longitude -2.98231°

Ponthendre, Longtown has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The earthwork remains of a Motte and Bailey presumed to be Medieval in date and mapped from aerial photographs. The tree covered motte is 10.5 metres in height and 44 metres in diameter. The enclosing ditch is 6 metres to 12 metres in width and 0.5 to 3 metres in depth, south east to north west. The scarp around the bailey is 3 metres to 4 metres in height and the rampart, 12 metres wide, 3 metres high on the south east side, 11 metres wide and 1 metres high on the north west side. A geophysical survey of the site revealed no anomalies in the bailey area apart from drainage channels, although there may have been occupation evidence to the south. It has been suggested that the castle was built by Walter de Lacy who died in 1085, and that the castle was replaced by Longtown Castle to the north in the twelfth century. (PastScape)

The proximity of Pont Hendre and Longtown could result from abandonment of the former due to the wet nature of the bailey which appears to have forced the habitation quarters outside the protection of the ramparts. The bogginess of the bailey is caused by a spring which issues from the bedrock located in the cut of the ditch to the north. Although the spring provides water to keep the ditch wet it has effectively removed the bailey area from being of any practical use. (Phillips 2005)

Comments

Although Ponthendre and Longtown are now in the same parish this was not the case before the C19 and Ponthendre was in Clodock parish. I'm informed in the medieval period Longtown was in the parish of Clodock but with a chapel of ease at Longtown. However there do seem to have been two separate medieval manors. It seems, the two medieval manors of Longtown and Clodock were held by the de Lacy's as overlords but actual knightly tenants may have been different and it may be that the Ponthendre motte was deliberately built on the edge of the Clodock manor in sight of Longtown as a political statement by a De Lacy sub-tenant.
Recent investigation suggest the Ponthendre site was not finished (No evidence was found of palisades) and one might envisage the De Lacy overlord stepping in to control his tenants

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1001763, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number he19
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 105677.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1038.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Longtown Castles Project
  Herefordshire Through Time
  Paul Martin Remfry
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Shoesmith, Ron, 1996, Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press) p. 206-7
  Prior, Stuart, 2006, A Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War (Tempus) p. 110-164
  Phillips, Neil, 2005, Earthwork Castles of Gwent and Ergyng AD 1050-1250 (University of Wales) p. 300-2 Download from ADS
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 48
  Remfry, Paul M., 1997, Longtown Castle, 1048 to 1241 (SCS Publishing: Worcestershire)
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 103 (slight)
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 13
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1) p. 208
  1981, Herefordshire Countryside Treasures (Hereford and Worcester County Council) p. 49
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 231
  Pevsner, N., 1963, Buildings of England: Herefordshire (Harmondsworth)
  RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 1: south-west p. xxxiv, 184 No. 4 (plan) online transcription
  Gould, I. Chalkley, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Herefordshire Vol. 1 p. 242-3 (plan)
Periodical Articles
- Tim Hoverd, 2016 Sept, 'Recent excavations at Longtown and Ponthendre Castles, Herefordshire' Castle Studies Group Bulletin No. 22 p. 4 online copy
  Martin Cook, 2016 April, 'Longtown Castles Community Archaeology Project' Castle Studies Group Bulletin Vol. 21 p. 4 (news report)
  Bradley, J. and Gaimster, M., 2003, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2002' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 47 p. 251-68 download copy
  Halliwell, P., 1997, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 67 p. 9
  1995, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 64 p. 43, 46-8 (plan)
  Purser, T.S., 1994, 'Castles of Herefordshire, 1066-1135' Medieval History Vol. 4 p. 76
  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
  Brown, R. Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' The English Historical Review Vol. 74 p. 249-280 (Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 90-121) view online copy (subscription required)
  Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol. 33 p. 106-12 (listed as precursor to Longtown)
  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. 148 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.)
- 1925, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the thirty-fourth year of the reign of King Henry the Second, A.D. 1187-1188 (Pipe Roll Society Publications 38)
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.

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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