Clothall Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Clothall.
In the historic county of Hertfordshire.
Modern Authority of Hertfordshire.
1974 county of Hertfordshire.
Medieval County of Hertfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL27183147
Latitude 51.96745° Longitude -0.15023°

Clothall Castle has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The moat has a particular significance through its close association with the contemporary deserted medieval settlement at nearby Clothall. Extensive related remains of buildings around the moat as well as horticultural earthworks and ditches indicate that settlement at this site developed in importance through time.
The monument includes a trapezoidal moated site and associated earthworks near the crest of Hickmans Hill, Clothall. The moat is aligned east-west with a single causeway facing south. The site has maximum external dimensions of about 90m and tapers to 60m on the western side. The moat is up to 5m wide and 1.5m deep and although not water filled shows signs of dampness. There is also a dry feeder channel 18m long connecting with a fishpond on the north-west corner of the moat. The moat is surrounded by an outer bank on all but the southern side. Opposite the entrance on the north-western side of the island is an area of uneven ground which marks structural evidence for earlier buildings. A low terrace platform about 8m wide extends along the eastern side of the moat. In the field east of the moat are a series of features including a linear earthwork 0.5m high and 6m wide. There are also a number of ditches crossing the field which form an integral part of the water management complex. (Scheduling Report)

Earthworks of castle, later used as a manor house, and alleged site of a house belonging to Clothall Leper hospital. Inhumations have been found on the site, suggesting it may have been the site of the leper hospital burial ground. A dry homestead moat, circa 74.0m East-West by about 80.0m North-South overall, with an original entrance on the south side. The arms are 8.0m wide and 2.0m deep, with a retaining bank on the North and West sides. To the west of the moat is a banked Mediaeval boundary ditch and also traces of a supply ditch to the North-West corner of the moat. (PastScape)

Semi-circular ditched enclosure beside lane east of Hickman's Hill with irregular quadrilateral in eastern half. Two mounds may mark the site of a gatehouse. The hospital of St Mary Magdalene was translated here 1303-07. (Renn)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1010912, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 11517
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 365661.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 807; 12627.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 49 (slight)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 221
  Renn, D.F., 1971, Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire (Chichester: Phillimore) p. 16 (doubtful)
  Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire Vol. 3 p. 221 online transcription
  RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire (London: HMSO) p. 81 no. 2 (listed as Homestead moat) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Andrews, H.C., 1909-9, 'The hospital of St Mary Magdalene: Baldock and Clothall' Transactions of the East Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol. 4.1 p. 90

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.
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