Ewyas Harold Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Ewyasharneis; Mapheralt; Pentecosts Castle

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

Remains of a motte and bailey castle located above the valley of the Dulas Brook one of a number of Medieval defensive sites located along the Golden Valley and adjacent Marches valleys. Probably built in 1048 and identified as Osbern Pentecosts castle of 1052 and recorded in the Domesday survey. The castle fell into decay in C14 although it was regarrisoned in 1402. John Leland recorded in 1530 that a great deal of the castle was still standing but by 1645 Royalist Richard Simmonds reported that it was no longer standing. The motte, which had a shell keep, measures up to 15m high and 75m around the base. It is separated from the bailey by a ditch. The kidney shaped inner bailey is located to the south east of the motte. A priory was located in an area of the bailey formerly used as a garden enclosed by a moat.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO384287

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

PastScape number; 105610

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 1499

• Web site links
  • http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/castles/castlesdata_az/ewyas_harold.htm
• Books
  • Prior, Stuart, 2006, A Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War (Tempus) p110-164
    Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern) p29
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1996, Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press)
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p95
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p43, 45, 59
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p205
    Nigel Kerr and Mary Kerr, 1982, A guide to Anglo-Saxon sites (London: Granada) p96-8
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p228
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Toy, I., 1953, Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p39
    RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire. Vol1: south-west p63-4
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p6, 148
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p150-1
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Chalkley Gould, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hereford Vol1 p237-8
    Bannister, 1902, History of Ewyas Harold (Hereford) esp. p100-1
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p102-3
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p39-43
    Robinson, Rev C.J., 1867, The Castles of Herefordshire and Their Lords (Logaston Press, 2002 reprint)
• Journal Articles
  • Lowe, Ros(ed), 2002, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol73, 3
    Halliwell, P.R. (ed), 1992, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol57, 7
    Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p313
    Coplestone-Crow, B., 1986, ‘The fief of Alfred of Marlborough in Herefordshire in 1086 and its descent in the Norman period’, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club Vol45.2 p376–414
    Shoesmith, R., 1983, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p250
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol112 p77-124
    Armitage, E., 1904 April, 'The Early Norman Castles of England' The English Historical Review Vol74 p230
    Clark, G.T., 1877, Archaeologia Cambrensis [ser4] Vol8 p116-24
    Clark, G.T., 1873, The Builder Vol31 p763-4 [reprinted in 1877 Arch. Camb. and in MMA]
    Bull, 1869, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club Vol4 p28-33 [history]
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • The Anglo-saxon Chronicle; Laud AD1052
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/hertseng.html#herts3]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p222, 225, 228
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol3 p93