Crundles Farm, Kidderminster Foreign (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Lightmarsh Farm

In the civil parish of Kidderminster Foreign.
In the historic county of Worcestershire.
Modern Authority of Worcestershire.
1974 county of Hereford and Worcester.
Medieval County of Worcestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO788766
Latitude 52.38718° Longitude -2.31262°

Crundles Farm, Kidderminster Foreign has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Earthworks of a probable deserted Mediaeval village, and an artificial mound, possibly a motte and bailey. (PastScape at SO789770)

Site visit following query from local people: A large steep sided round topped mound. About 60 ft high. Old pine trees planted along its east side from south-west to north-east half. Some slippage of soil in this area. Slight bank and shallow ditch near base of the mound running along its east side from southwest to north- east. This definitely has the appearance of man made & of a motte & bailey. The earthworks to the E are suggestive of an associated bailey with a ditch & bank. This may also extend to NE towards the farm (Jackson R. 9.1992. Site visit. SMR Card).
Observed again during a site visit in 2005. The mound appears to be natural, but has been modified through production of the features described above. The overall site morphology supports the motte and bailey interpretation, however, there is no clear data to support pre-medieval activity (A Mindykowski. 2005. HECAS site visit to Grey Green Farm, Wribbenhall on 27th Aptil 2005. CAA 677). (Worcestershire and Worcester City HER at SO788766)

Comments

It is probable the PastScape and Worcester HER record refer to the same feature, despite the slightly different map references, site names and given sources. However, other mounds in the area do seem to be reported as possible archaeological features (see WSM04106, WSM04107, WSM04108) in a manner which may suggest an unqualified or inexperience field archaeologist has got carried away and is misinterpreting natural features. The site(s) need to be re-examined by a critical, experienced field archaeologist with castle studies expertise before this can be considered as a possible castle site. The site is not near a church but is not inconsistent either with a 'knights fee' mainly symbolic castle mound or a foresters hunting lodge.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1193693.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) WSM12015.

Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Jackson, R.A., Bevan, L., Hurst, J.D. and de Rouffignac, C.,1993, Salvage Recording of a Mesolithic site at Lightmarsh Farm, Kidderminster Foreign Report 200 (Hereford and Worcester County Council, County Archaeological Service reports) p. 25, 26

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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.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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