Courtfield, Welsh Bicknor

In the civil parish of Welsh Bicknor.
In the historic county of Herefordshire (Modern Authority of Herefordshire, 1974 county of Hereford and Worcester).

King writes 'Nothing known of castle mentioned by Moore' which is also listed by Harvey. Courtfield House is at the ref given. SMR record (no 33643) reads "What is called the Mansion was built in 1805 on the site of an older house, by William and Teresa Vaughan. There are two blocks to the north and south which are earlier. Henry V was said to have been nursed here, possibly by Lady Margaret Montague. A church was built in C19 which destroyed part of the earlier buildings." This is in a naturally strongly defended loop of the River Wye and is almost certainly the site meant by Moore. It is clearly a high status medieval site and, therefore, probably had some fortification. There is also an extremely large mound at SO591181. Of which SMR writes "From geology maps likely to be natural. Does Cwrt name mean it has been used after." (SMR no 10671).

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO597174

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 33643 & 10671

• Web site links
  • http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/db.php?smr_no=33643
• Books
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p213 [possible]
    RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire. Vol1: south-west p248
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
• Journal Articles
  • Archaeological Research Section Woolhope NFC, 1999, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol70, 32-33