Rockhill (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SO29007853
Latitude 52.40019° Longitude -3.04489°

Rockhill has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

A small circular work 130ft in diameter consisting of a single bank 1ft high from the interior and a ditch about 2ft deep. On the NW there is a scarp of 4ft, on the west 5ft. Entrance on SE (VCH 1908). Possible ring motte (Chitty; Hogg and King) Head of valley with good views to the S, with higher ridge to the north. Bank and outer ditch measuring 50m overall externally and 25m internally. The turf covered bank has a maximum height of 1.4m above a shallow enclosing ditch and 0.7m above interior, the W half of which is raised slightly above the surrounding ground. There is an entrance on the S. (OS FI 1973)
…A small larch plantation was removed from the site in the late 1950s which explains the tree stumps which are rotting in situ on the banks (A Tyler FI 1981)
Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1: High score as one of 30 Upland Enclosures; one of less than 10 Rounds (Horton Wendy B. 1990/91. MPP Evaluation File).
Suggested that this may be an animal pound (Reid Malcolm L. 2003. Comments by MPP fieldworker).

Comments

Somewhat isolated from settlement, and not in the apparently best position for a lookout outwork. Approx 30m in diameter, bank less than 1m high. Overlooked to north but good views of approaches to Clun from south. Several nearby sites make better tactical sense as lookout sites but this is site is one of the largest bits of level ground in the local area. King called this a 'possible' site in 1983 - a term he used for site that were doubtful. The suggestion that this was an animal pound is less romantic than suggesting it was a ringwork outwork to Clun Castle but is more probably correct.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1006281, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number sa170
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 105148.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01154.

Books
- Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 (possible)
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 379-80 (plan)
Periodical Articles
- Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1970, 'Castles in Wales and the Marches (Additions and corrections to lists published in 1963 and 1967)' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol. 119 p. 119-124
  King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  Chitty, Lily, 1957-60, Transactions of the Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club p. 54
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 26376

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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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