Dudston Castle Mound (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Dudson

In the civil parish of Chirbury With Brompton.
In the historic county of Shropshire.
Modern Authority of Shropshire.
1974 county of Shropshire.
Medieval County of Shropshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO24459743
Latitude 52.56934° Longitude -3.11597°

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

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Although the motte castle at the south end of East Dudston hamlet has been disturbed on its western and northern sides it will retain archaeological information relating to its construction and to the character of its occupation. Environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which it was constructed will survive sealed on the old land surface beneath the motte and in the sediments of the surviving portion of the surrounding ditch. Such motte castles, when considered either as single sites or as part of a broader medieval landscape, contribute valuable information concerning the settlement pattern, economy and social structure of the countryside during the medieval period.
The monument includes the remains of a small motte castle situated on a low rise of land approximately 1km east of the Welsh border. It includes a well defined castle mound, or motte, roughly oval in plan with dimensions at base of 28m north west to south east by 20m transversely and standing up to 2.5m high. The summit of the motte is slightly rounded in profile and measures 8m by 6m. Around the south side of the motte there are the remains of a partly water-filled ditch averaging 4m wide with a counter-scarp, outer bank 0.9m high. Both the ditch and the bank would have originally continued around the remaining sides of the mound but the foundation excavations for farmbuildings and a roadway will have removed any archaeological evidence for either the bank or ditch on the west, north and east sides of the motte. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

A named place in the Domesday record for Earl Roger's manor of Montgomery. As such almost certainly represents the site of a house of a sub-tenant owing military service to Roger. Seems to have been held for a whole knight's fee in 1240. As with other such 'isolated' mottes this is likely to have had a timber tower on top and an undefended hall and farmstead adjacent (under the modern farm). The function of the tower on such a motte is a matter of discussion but it should be noted that in times of trouble the knightly tenant would have been expected to go to Montgomery. In practice the main function of such a tower is likely to have been a symbolic representation of knightly status of the tenant.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1013489, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19228
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 105565.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01216.

Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 72
  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. 24
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 422 (Chirbury No. 5)
  Rees, W., 1933, Historical map of South Wales and the Borders in the C14
  Eyton, R.W., 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 11 p. 157 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. 79
  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
  Renn, D.F., 1959, 'Mottes: a classification' Antiquity Vol. 33 p. 106-12
  Chitty, Lily, 1949, 'Subsidiary Castle Sites West of Shrewsbury' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society Vol. 53 p. 83-90
  1906, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 6 p. 231-2
  Clark, G.T., 1880, 'The moated mounds of the Upper Severn' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 35 p. 207-8 online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1877, 'The moated mounds of the upper Severn' Montgomeryshire Collections Vol. 10 p. 336-7 online copy
  1877, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 32 p. 160-1 (a reprint of a letter to the Times 1876 April 11 from 'C' (?Clark)) online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 1995, Scheduling Papers (Revision, 20/11/1995)
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 20086

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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