Aldford Blobb Hill

In the civil parish of Aldford.
In the historic county of Cheshire (Modern Authority of Cheshire, 1974 county of Cheshire).

Motte and bailey castle surviving as an earthwork with remains of shell keep. The motte has an average height of 5.2m and is flat topped. It is surrounded by a ditch with an average width of 10m at the lower level and from the exterior 2.4m. an outer bank 1.2m high extends around part of the east side. The bailey is enclosed by a ditch 2m deep and 18m wide. The castle may date to C12. Excavation in 1959 by two scholboys found a piscina. Gephysical Survey in 1996 of the motte and bailey to locate any anomalies, in particular evidence of building remains. The positive results are hard to interpret; there may be one large rectangular building with a possible tower at its NW corner, or a range of buildings. There is some evidence of a wall enclosing the motte. No clearly defined archaeological anomalies were detected within the bailey. A small exploratory excavation in 1999 directed by S.W Ward and A. Lowerre of Boston College, USA, was carried out with volunteers from Chester Archaeological Society and elsewhere. Work continued in 2000. 2002 was the third season. No Norman deposits were found, but medieval features included an occupation layer, cess pit, possible stone building spread, bone fragments and C13-C14 pottery.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber 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 SJ41895952

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; 68791

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 1836/1/0

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/117/aldfordcastle.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p13
    Tindall, Adrian (ed), 1995, Cheshire Past. An annual review of Archaeology in Cheshire. Issue 4 (Chester: Cheshire County Council)
    Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p10
    Sale, B. and Turner, R.C., 1985, The Motte and Bailey Castle at Aldford
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p66
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p176
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Dodgson, J.McN., 1970-1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire Vol4 p77-8
    Ridgway, Maurice Hill, 1958, 'Medieval Castles' in Sylvester, D. and Nulty, G. (eds), The Historical Atlas of Cheshire (Cheshire Community Council) p24-5
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p162-3
    Ormerod, G., 1882 [2edn], History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol2 p757-8
• Journal Articles
  • Ward, S., autumn 2000, 'Digging deep at Aldford Castle' The Past Uncovered: Quarterly Newsletter of Chester Archaeology
    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
    Wilson, D.M. and Hurst, J.G., 1960, 'Medieval Britain in 1959' Medieval Archaeology Vol4 p145
    1910, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol10 p193
    1960, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol47 p35-6