Bromlow Castle Mound (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Village Farm

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: SJ32020230
Latitude 52.61428° Longitude -3.00511°

Bromlow Castle Mound has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The motte castle 50m north of Village Farm, Worthen survives well and is a good example of its class. It will retain archaeological information relating to the materials and techniques used in its construction and to the date and nature of its occupation. Environmental information relating to the landscape in which it was constructed will be preserved sealed on the old land surface within the motte and in the ditch fill. Such motte castles provide valuable information concerning the settlement pattern and social organisation of the countryside during the medieval period. Worthen motte is one of a series of small motte castles strategically positioned to control side valleys on the south side of the main valley pass between Shrewsbury and Montgomery. Considered as a group each contributes important information concerning the medieval management of this important routeway between England and Wales.
The monument includes a motte castle situated at the north end of a steep ridge of high ground formed between tributaries of the Rea Brook. The position of the motte has been chosen for its strategic strength overlooking the valley routeway from Shrewsbury to Montgomery which lies to the north. It includes a circular motte with a base diameter of 21m standing to a height of 4m. Where exposed the interior fabric of the motte appears to be natural rock, suggesting that an existing rock outcrop has been used as the basis for the motte. The summit of the mound has been eroded to a slightly rounded profile and has a plan diameter of 9m. The remains of a surrounding ditch are visible around the north east, west and south west sides of the motte; it averages 4m in width and 1m deep. (Scheduling Report)

The motte at Bromlow stands between 11 foot and 14 foot high from the bottom of a ditch now only 1 foot deep. It is very small with a much eroded top of about 25 ft. in diameter. There is no sign of any bailey, nor could one have disappeared in this situation without leaving substantial traces of its existence. (PastScape ref. King and Spurgeon 1965; VCH 1908)

Comments

The adapted natural mound is adjacent to a farm, which must occupy the residential parts of the castle. The expansion of this farm will have destroyed any defences of those buildings. Gatehouse does not agree with King that no bailey could have existed, although it is unlikely to have been substantial. This must represent the location of a farmstead, probably one of the 13 berewicks of Worthin recorded in Domesday held by an under-tenant of Roger fitz Corbet for military service (some under-tenants are named in Domesday as milites ).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1012861, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19194
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 66410.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01046.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Raving Loony Productions
Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 38-9
  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. 8
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 433 (Worthen No. 2)
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 389-90 (plan)
  Eyton, R.W., 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 11 p. 95, 108 online copy
Periodical Articles
- King, D.J.C. and Spurgeon, C.J., 1965, 'The mottes in the Vale of Montgomery' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 114 p. 72-3 (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
  Chitty, Lily, 1949, 'Subsidiary Castle Sites West of Shrewsbury' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society Vol. 53 p. 83-90
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 1995, Scheduling Papers (Revision, 22/07/1995)
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1987, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 33227 (20/10/1987)

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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.
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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.
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.

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