Aston Botterell Ringwork

Description

Despite modification to the southern half of the defensive circuit, the ringwork 110m west of St Michael's Church is a good example of this class of monument. In Shropshire, ringworks are comparatively rare in relation to other types of contemporary early medieval castles incorporating a conical mound, or motte. The form of the ringwork is unusual in that the interior has been been partially raised above the level of the surrounding land. Within the interior the remains of the structures will survive as buried features, which together with the associated artefacts and organic remains, will provide valuable evidence about the activities and lifestyles of those who inhabited the site. In addition, organic remains preserved in the buried ground surfaces beneath the raised interior, under the inner and outer banks, and deposited within the ditches, will provide information about the local environment and the use of the land prior to and following the construction of the ringwork. The field boundary banks help to demonstate the nature of agricultural practice on the site following the abandonment of the ringwork.
The importance of the ringwork is further enhanced by its close proximity to, and contemporary association with, St Michael's Church. Also significant is its likely association with Aston Manor.
The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a ringwork and the adjacent sections of former field boundary banks. The ringwork is situated on a gentle south facing slope in an area of undulating land. It lies within the hamlet of Aston Botterell, 110m west of the 12th century Church of St Michael and 50m to the west of Aston Manor, built in the 13th century. It is probable that in the 13th century the manor house replaced the ringwork as the manorial residence.
The ringwork is an oval-shaped enclosure, measuring approximately 66m north-south by 74m east-west. The earthwork defences define an internal area approximately 32m by 40m and consist of an internal bank about 7m wide, composed of earth and stone, surrounded by a ditch also about 7m wide, enclosed by an outer bank approximately 3m wide. The northern half of the defensive circuit is much more prominent than the southern half. Here, the internal bank stands up to 1.1m high, the ditch is about 1m deep and the external bank stands about 0.2m high. To the south the banks have been reduced in height and the ditch, which has been largely infilled, survives as a buried feature. To compensate for the natural fall in the ground surface, the southern half of the interior has been slightly raised in order to create a level building platform.
To the west and south of the ringwork are the remains of former field boundary banks, set at right angles to one another. These banks appear to be later than the ringwork, with one running up to its western edge. In order to preserve the relationship between the field boundaries and the ringwork a 30m long section of these banks has been included in the scheduling. (Scheduling Report)

SO 63128410. An ovoid moated site, well preserved on the north side, partly filled in on the south with two conjoined exterior enclosures defined by scarps and low banks. Interior bank up to 1 metre high from the interior on the north side, ditch up to circa 3 metres deep on the north side and 5-10 metres wide. No interior features. Possible causeway on the north east side (Salop SMR).
SO 63148412. A Medieval ringwork under pasture in the village of Aston Botterell 100 metres west of the Norman church and Aston Manor Farm (SO 68 SW 13) which incorporates a 13th century hall. There is a slight slope from north to south through the site down to the Cressel Brook some 50 metres away.
The enclosed area measures 45 metres east to west by 35 metres transversely, formed along the north and west sides by a well preserved dry ditch 8 metres wide and 1.3 metres deep with an internal bank 1 metre high. Only slight, unsurveyable, traces of the ditch survive along the east and south sides and the external scarp is only 0.6 metres in height.
The south and west sides of an enclosure, possibly contemporary, adjoin the ringwork on the west side but a scarp slope running south from it to the stream is probably an old field boundary rather than a second enclosure (F1 DJC 13-DEC-79).
Noted in a list of Moated sites in Shropshire (MSRGR 1980).
Medieval ringwork and adjacent sections of former field boundary banks located 110 metres west of St Michael's Church and 50 metres west of Aston Botterell. The ringwork is an oval shaped enclosure consisting of an internal bank surrounded by a ditch enclosed by an outer bank. The southern half of the interior is raised slightly to create a level building platform. To the west and south of the ringwork are the remains of the field boundary banks which appear to be later than the ringwork. Scheduled. (EH scheduling amendment, 12-NOV-2001). (PastScape)

Comments

Presumably, if know to David Cathcart King, he dismissed as a simple moated site as it is not included in his Castellarium Anglicanum (London; 1983), although the identification of the site as a ringwork seems to date from the 1970s.