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Acton Burnell Castle
In the civil parish of Acton Burnell.
In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Shropshire, 1974 county of Shropshire).
The remains of Acton Burnell Castle, a C13 residential complex. In 1284 Robert Burnell, who served as secretary to Edward I, was granted a licence by the king to crenellate and fortify a property at Acton Burnell, replacing the earlier house in which Robert was born. Work continued on the manor throughout Burnell's lifetime, and it seems likely that it was still in progress at his death in 1292. The property stayed in the family but ceased to be used as a residence by 1420. It is a two-storeyed building of coursed sandstone ashlar and is the grandest building known to survive from Burnell's rebuilding campaign. The block constitutes a self-contained suite of rooms and was designed as the main dwelling for the Chancellor and his household. It lies on a roughly rectangular platform along which a moat can be traced for most of its circuit on the east, north and west sides.
This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House
Palace.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.
A Royal licence
to crenellate was
granted in 1284 Jan 28.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
This site is a
Grade 1 listed
building protected by law*. (Images
of England number 259654)
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ53390191
PastScape number;
70213
- Web site links
- Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p18-9
Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p27, 36, 151, 165
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p502
Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p157, 161-2, 167, 170
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p209
James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p98-9
Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p1
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p435 [reject]
West, J., 1981, ‘Acton Bumell Castle, Shropshire’, in A Detsicas (ed), Collectanea Historica: Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold (Kent Archaeological Society) p85-92
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p176
Gaydon, A.T. (ed), 1968, VCH Shropshire Vol8 p7-8
Radford, C.A.R., 1961, 'Acton Burnell Castle' in Jope, E. (ed), Studies in Building History (Odhams) p94-103
Pevsner, N., 1958, The Buildings of England: Shropshire (London) p47-9
Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p144-6
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p123-4
Leach, F., 1891, County Seats of Shropshirepp219-21
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p403
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1851, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol1 p168-72
Salmon, J., n.d., Acton Burnell and its Church
- Journal Articles
- West, J.J., 1981, ‘Acton Bumell church and castle' Archaeological Journal Vol138 p 31-2
Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
1956, Archaeological Journal Vol113 p200-1
Wood, Margaret, 1950, 'Thirteenth-century Domestic Architecture in England' Archaeological Journal Vol105 supplement p62-4
1933-4, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol47 p49-56
1892, Shropshire Notes and Queries Vol1 p68, 104-6
Hartshorne, C.H., 1846, Archaeological Journal Vol2 p325-8
- Guidebooks
- Radford, C.A.R., 1985, Acton Burnell Castle (English Heritage)
Radford, C.A.R., 1957, Acton Burnell Castle (HMSO)
- Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents
- This section is far from complete and the secondary
sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Calendar of Patent Rolls (1281-92) p110
- Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
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 |
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English
Heritage and other individuals and organisations. |
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
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*The listed building
may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site
of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
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