Marche Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Brerelawe; Berelawe; Westbury Station

In the civil parish of Westbury.
In the historic county of Shropshire.
Modern Authority of Shropshire.
1974 county of Shropshire.
Medieval County of Shropshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ34251077
Latitude 52.69072° Longitude -2.97418°

Marche Hall has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The ringwork and bailey south west of Lyndale survives well and is a good example of its class. The ringwork appears largely undisturbed and will retain archaeological information relating to its date, construction and occupation. Environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the monument was constructed will be preserved in the fill of the ringwork ditch. The bailey, although somewhat reduced by past ploughing, will also retain archaeological information relating to its construction and use. Such monuments, when considered either as single monuments or as part of the broader medieval landscape contribute valuable evidence relating to the settlement pattern, economy and social organisation of the countryside during the medieval period.
The monument includes the remains of a small ringwork and bailey castle situated on the summit of a prominent knoll. The ringwork is roughly oval in plan with overall dimensions of 44m north west to south east by 24m transversley. It has been formed by scarping the hilltop to form a flat topped platform up to 1.6m above the surrounding land, with faint traces of a surrounding ditch 3m wide and 0.1m deep. The earthwork remains of a bailey enclosure lie attached to the north side of the ringwork. The bailey is defined around its west and north sides as a low scarp 0.5m high formed by cutting back the hillslope. The eastern side of the bailey can no longer be recognised as a surface earthwork but will survive as a buried feature. The hamlet of Berelawe recorded in the 13th century has been identified with the site and the field surrounding the monument was named on a map of 1840 as 'the Briarleys'. (Scheduling Report)

Earthwork occupies the summit of a prominent knoll. Now exists as an oval platform up to 1.7m in height, 34m NW/SE by 27m NE/SW. Faint trace of surrounding ditch (OS FI 1971).
Hamlet of Berelawe (SA 3971) which Eyton records in C13 can be identified with this ringwork near Westbury Station. Fields surrounding the site on 1840 TA map were called Briarleys, a name which survives locally to the present day (Lawson 1965). (Shropshire HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1013483, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19234
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 66548.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01082; 03971.

Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 109-10
  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. 36
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 431 (Westbury No. 3)
  Gaydon, A.T. (ed), 1968, VCH Shropshire Vol. 8 p. 195, 296, 305
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 382
  Eyton, R.W., 1858, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 7 p. 170-71 (tenurial history) online copy
Periodical Articles
- King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  Lawson, J., 1965, Shropshire Archaeological Society newsletter Vol. 28 p. 23
  King, D.J.C. and Spurgeon, C.J., 1965, 'The mottes in the Vale of Montgomery' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 114 p. 82
  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.
- Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk West Midlands Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 27 online copy (new entry)
  English Heritage, 1995, Scheduling Papers (Revision, 20/11/1995)
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1983, Scheduled Monument Reports on SAMs 13502 and 14324

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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