Newcastle; The Crugyn (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO24398206
Latitude 52.43130° Longitude -3.11353°

Newcastle; The Crugyn has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Listed as an early castle by Hogg and King. Ten foot high (Hogg and King 1963). It was formerly thought to be a tumulus (VCH 1908). More probably a castle motte (Bird A J. 1950. Map annotation). (1973. Ordnance Survey Record Card).
A natural mound, the upper slopes of which have been artificially scarped to form a small motte. Situated in the valley bottom on the east bank of the River Clun. The mound has a base diameter of 42m NW/SE by 35m transversely; the motte is about 20m in diameter. The mound is 3.5m high. No traces of an associated bailey are to be found. Motte ploughed Sept 1984, though still surviving as described by the OS 1973. No trace of motte ditch apparent as a soil mark-no other associated features noted. Field to be put down to pasture again after being cropped. (winter barley) (Watson Michael D. 1984. Visit Notes).
Evaluated for MPP in 1990-91, Low score as one of 43 Motte castles.
A motte (also suggested as a possible round barrow) situated in the flood plain of the River Clun, close to the river. It measures apx 40m in diameter at its base and is about 2.5m high. Ploughing has spread and reduced the height of this mound. There are no visible indications of the surrounding ditch. It lies within an unimproved pasture field and is surmounted by an old oak tree. It is possibly associated with the motte and bailey castle at Clun, also occupying a position next to the river about 5.5km to the south east (Reid 1999). (Shropshire HER)

Comments

The mound is in the valley bottom and it appears to be heavily eroded (possibly the valley floods regularly). Erosion may have removed much material and the original mound certainly would have been somewhat higher than now, but probably not of greater diameter. The mound is surrounded by a 20m band of firm but lush ground which may represent a silted up ditch. Badger sett in mound and erosion ongoing. Suggested as site of Matefelun mentioned 1195.
Although it is now a civil parish medieval Newcastle was a small hamlet within the parish and manor of Clun. The place-name is suggestive of a castle but note the prominent local hill called Castle Idris which may explain the place-name. If this was a castle then does it represent the site of a farmstead held by a tenant owing military service to Clun? If so then the tenant is likely to have owed serjeantry service of a fraction of a knight's fee.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 105456.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01956.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Jeff Thomas's Castles of Wales
Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 121-2
  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. 43-4
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 423 (Clun No. 3)
  Bird, A.J., 1977, History on the Ground (University of Wales Press) p. 106
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 411
  Eyton, R.W., 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 11 p. 234, 241 (mention) online copy
Periodical Articles
- 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
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Reid, Malcolm L., 1999-Jul-28, Non-scheduling Alternative Action Report Submission 20

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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.
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