Shobdon Court Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Shobdon Church

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO39956284
Latitude 52.26035° Longitude -2.88122°

Shobdon Court Castle has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A probable castle mound which was visible as an earthwork in 1972. It was 148 ft in diameter, with a flat top, rising 10-12 ft above the surrounding ground. It was surrounded by a dry ditch with slight traces of an outer bank and causeway towards the northeast. Field investigations carried out in 1972 found only the mound surviving, the ditch had been filled in. No evidence of a bailey was located. The castle was probably built in the early twelfth century. (PastScape)

Flat topped mound. Round 150' diam 10-12' high. Surrounding ditch recently filled in around N and E sides. In 1980 no sign of ditch. Now surrounded on 2 sides by egg packing plant and tarmac road on N and E where tracks formerly. Oak trees planted round upper perimeter of mound, probably in C18 landscaping, those that are still standing are huge, more stumps in bank (Scheduling Report). Mount surrounded by a fosse of considerable base, but in the present state only 16' high (VCH). Round with flat top, dry ditch surrounding mound, slight traces of outer bank and causeway towards NE (RCHME). Proportions suggest that this may be ringwork rather than motte. Slight traces of outerbank of RCHM are only suggestion of bailey; site needs new assessment of nature of outer earthworks and possibility of site being self contained ringwork (Roberts, J P. 11/1983. Correspondence and notes from the County Archaeological Officer. SMR card.) Members of the archaeology section of the Woolhope Club visited the site on 03/04/92. The site consists of a large motte surrounded by a ditch with slight traces of an outer bank and causeway to the NE (now filled in). There is possible horn work on the SW side (HAN, 1992). (Herefordshire SMR)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1005345, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number he181
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 106468.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 559.

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. 256-7
  Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 59
  Stirling-Brown, R., 1989, Herefordshire Castles (privately published) p. 17
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 210
  Pevsner, N., 1963, Buildings of England: Herefordshire (Harmondsworth) p. 288
  RCHME, 1934, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 3: north-west p. 182 No. 24 online transcription
  Gould, I. Chalkley, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Herefordshire Vol. 1 p. 229-30
Periodical Articles
- Halliwell, P. (ed), 1992, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 58 p. 30-1 (plan)
  1972, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 24 p. 4 (plan)
  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

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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.
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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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