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The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.

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Bank Farm Enclosure, Berriew

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Ffridd Penthryn

In the community of Berriew.
In the historic county of Montgomeryshire.
Modern authority of Powys.
Preserved county of Powys.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ15880329
Latitude 52.62087° Longitude -3.24416°

Bank Farm Enclosure, Berriew has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Triangular hillslope enclosure 50m ne-sw by 60m takes form of platform cut into hill and bounded by slight bank and ditch (OS, 1980). Site levelled circa 1970 (Spurgeon, C J, 1972; OS, 1981). Mis-classified by RCAHM, 1911. Degraded earthwork, interior platformed perhaps artificially. (Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust HER categorised as Iron Age Hillfort)

Comments

Listed as early castle by Hogg and King in 1963 but rejected as 'natural mound' in 1970. King rejects in 1983 as too small to have ever been castle earthworks. Spurgeon, in 1966, rejected as gone, motte unlikely. Shows as small circular enclosure on 1st edition OS map and the outline of this is still visible on aerial photo. Nothing about the location suggests medieval occupation. As reported was consistent in size to many ringworks, but more likely to be Iron Age defended farmstead than anything else. King's description of a natural mound suggests by the time he saw the site it was so damaged as to be unidentifiable on the ground.

Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >	Coflein	County HER
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	Historic Wales	V. O. B.	Geology	LIDAR
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio

Sources of information, references and further reading

The National Monument Record (Coflein) number(s) for this site is/are 309515.
The County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) for this site is/are 113.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 301 (reject)
  RCAHMW, 1911, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Montgomeryshire (HMSO) p. 5 no. 16 online copy
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
  Spurgeon, C.J., 1966, ‘The castles of Montgomeryshire’ Montgomeryshire Collections Vol. 59 p. 57 (reject) online copy
  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

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.
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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain Designated Historic Asset Descriptive Information from The Welsh Historic Environment Service (Cadw), 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.

Lidar coverage in the UK is not complete. The button above will give an idea of the area of coverage. Higher resolution lidar images in both DSM and DTM form may be available from Lle A geo-Portal for Wales (click the preview tag to bring up a map and then select format byclicking on the small blue diamond in the top right corner of the map.)

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This record last updated before 1 February 2016

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