Stapleton Motte (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Stapeleton-in-Legharness

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

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ47100445
Latitude 52.63540° Longitude -2.78306°

Stapleton Motte 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 east of Stapleton church survives well and is a good example of its class. It will retain archaeological information relating to its construction, date and nature of occupation. Environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which it was constructed will be preserved sealed on the old ground surface beneath the motte and in the ditch fill. Such motte castles, when considered either as single monuments, or as a part of the broader medieval landscape, contribute valuable information concerning the settlement pattern, economy and social structure of the countryside during the medieval period. In this respect the proximity of the parish church to the north west of the motte is considered of interest.
The monument includes the remains of a small motte castle situated on the north bank of a tributary of Cound Brook. The motte is believed to be the castle of Stapeleton-in-Legharness founded during the 12th century and which was in the custody of King John in 1207. The castle lies within the main north to south valley communication route along the Cound Brook valley south of Shrewsbury. It includes a castle mound, or motte, roughly circular in plan with a base diameter of 31m which rises 3m to a flat summit 22m in diameter. A slight hollow 2m wide and up to 0.3m deep around the north quarter of the site, through which the churchyard path runs, represents the only visible portion of the surrounding ditch. The ditch will survive as a buried feature of a similar width around the remaining sides of the mound. The eastern boundary of the churchyard crosses the motte summit and there are five grave markers set upon the part of the summit which falls within the churchyard. No bailey associated with the motte has yet been traced. (Scheduling Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1013492, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 19225
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 67741.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 01054.

Books
- Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p. 154-5
  Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 75
  Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p. 56
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2
  Gaydon, A.T. (ed), 1968, VCH Shropshire Vol. 8 p. 162
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 387-8
  Eyton, R.W., 1860, Antiquities of Shropshire (London: John Russell Smith) Vol. 11 p. 344-6 (tenurial history) online copy
  Hartshorne, C.H., 1841, Salopia Antiqua (London) p. 100 (a dubious reference)
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
  Oakley, 1937-8, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 49 p. 43-8
  Eyton, R.W., 1887, 'The castles of Shropshire' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 10 p. 27
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 32 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 33 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 West Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 43 online copy
  English Heritage, 1995, Scheduling Papers (Affirmation, 08/11/1995)
  Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 21044

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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.
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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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