Hope Castle Mound, Shropshire (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Lady House; Leye; Worthen 3

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: SJ34430224
Latitude 52.61394° Longitude -2.96978°

Hope Castle Mound, Shropshire 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 south west of Lady House Farm survives well and is a good example of its class. It will retain archaeological information relating to its construction and 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 ditch fill. Such motte castles, when considered as a single site or as a 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 ground falling gently to the north, overlooking the valley of the Rea Brook. It includes a mound of earth and stone rubble construction 23m in diameter at base rising 3.5m to a flattened summit 8m in diameter. A shallow ditch averaging 3m wide and 0.4m deep, from which material would have been quarried for the construction of the mound, remains visible as a surface feature around the south, west and north sides of the motte. This will exist as a buried feature of similar proportions around the remaining east side of the motte. (Scheduling Report)

Comments

Hope was within the very large Domesday Manor of Worthin. There were 13 berewicks recorded in the Domesday entry and Hope is likely to have been one of these. Lady House Farm probably sits on, or near to, the site of the house and farm of one of Roger fitz Corbet's sub-tenants some of whom are named in the Domesday entry and identified as milites (knights) and a further three unidentified Radman (riders) are enlisted. The motte, adjacent to the farm would probably have been surmounted by a timber tower surviving primarily as a symbol of this military status. The C11/C12 farmstead may have been enclosed with a fence, although seemingly not a ditch and bank. By 1240 Hope was held for half a knights fee served as part of the military service the Corbet's owed the crown. It was usual for such service to be due 'in time of war' so, in time of trouble, it is likely the military man associated with this mound would be elsewhere so this could not function as a military base, although the building on the motte may have offered some protection from thieves.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1012852, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19184
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 66425.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01624.

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. 89
  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. 28-9
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 433 (Worthen No. 3)
  Rees, W., 1933, Historical map of South Wales and the Borders in the C14
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 390 (plan)
  Eyton, R.W., 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 11 p. 114-15 (tenurial history) 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, 26/07/1995)
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 31101 (13/10/1986)

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.

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