Binweston (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Bynweston; Bing Weston

In the civil parish of Worthen With Shelve.
In the historic county of Shropshire.
Modern Authority of Shropshire.
1974 county of Shropshire.
Medieval County of Shropshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ30100411
Latitude 52.63004° Longitude -3.03456°

Binweston has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

An earthwork completely obscured by a large black and white house, which can be seen to stand on some kind of artificial terrace about 8' high on the downhill (SE) side. "There was formerly a wet moat from the adjoining brook. The original earthwork would seem to have been relatively large as the house is 100ft. long and there is a fragment of bank behind the farm-buildings at its rear, perhaps 200ft. away; but these indications are distinctly uncertain, and we can only say that there are very definite indications of some kind of castle mound" (King and Spurgeon 1965).
"Mount and Fosse" at Binweston. The former is 15ft. high and the latter 2 to 3 ft. deep. The summit is occupied by an old farmhouse (VCH 1908 p. 389).
"At Binweston is a triangular moat formed against a bend in a stream" (VCH 1908 p. 405).
Only fragmentary portions of the moat remain and there is little evidence to suggest that a castle mound ever stood here. The farmhouse within the remains of the wood appears to be of 16th. C. origin but has many alterations and additions (F1 MHB 09-MAR-71).
Possible Medieval moated site (MSRGR 1980). (PastScape)

Comments

Despite a clear description of a motte and fosse in the VCH the field investigator MHB appeared, in 1971, to be dismissive of this as a possible motte site. Given the not inconsiderable developments of farm buildings at Binweston it is perhaps more surprising that, in fact, there is still some remaining evidence of the motte.
Possible manorial centre for quarter of Bing Weston, in parish of Worthen. Worthen is recorded in Domesday as an estate of Robert fitz Corbet but seems to have been mainly held by a number of knightly sub-tenants, although Binweston seems to have been directly held demense.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 66402.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01621.

Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 25
  Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 87 (slight)
  Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p. 4
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 433 (Worthen No. 1)
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 389 (plan), 405
  Eyton, R.W., 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 11 p. 108-9 (tenurial history) online copy
Periodical Articles
- 1980, Moated Sites Research Group report Vol. 7 p. 53
  King, D.J.C. and Spurgeon, C.J., 1965, 'The mottes in the Vale of Montgomery' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 114 p. 70
  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
  Chitty, Lily, 1949, 'Subsidiary Castle Sites West of Shrewsbury' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society Vol. 53 p. 83-90

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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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