Alberbury Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Abberbury; Fitzwarine Tower

In the civil parish of Alberbury With Cardeston.
In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Shropshire, 1974 county of Shropshire).

Castle, remains of. Probably early C13, for Fulk Fitz Warin (III). Coursed Alberbury breccia with red sandstone dressings and evidence of former limewashing. Remains of 2-storey keep to south-west (probably formerly with first-floor hall) and irregularly-shaped bailey to north-east bounded by wall approximately 175m long, 3m high, and 1m wide. Keep: very ruinous, with remains of internal first-floor cill string; round- and pointed-arched openings. Walling: battered lower stages with remains of diagonal buttress to north-west and section of chamfered plinth to west; C19 doorway to churchyard at the north-east corner with pointed chamfered arch and nail-studded boarded door with strap hinges; pointed-arched doorway to east with boarded door, round rear-arch with rounded reveals and "1646" inscibed on tympanum; C19 doorway to west with moulded pointed arch and boarded door. Ralph the Fat is the first recorded tenant of the Manor of Alberbury. Fulk Fitz Warin (I) probably succeeded him. The castle forms part of a close group in the village centre with the church.

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

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 258922)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ358144

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 66500

Books

Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p21
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p209
Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p2
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p420
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p176
Meisel, J., 1980, Barons of the Welsh Frontier p42,91,190,192
Gaydon, A.T. (ed), 1968, VCH Shropshire Vol8 p196
Pevsner, N., 1958, The Buildings of England: Shropshire (London, Penguin) p55 [slight]
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p125
Eyton, R.W., 1854-60, Antiquities of Shropshire (London) Vol7 p81

Journal Articles

Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p317
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
Chitty, Lily, 1949, 'Subsidiary Castle Sites West of Shrewsbury' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society Vol53 p83-90
1908, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol8 p63, 70

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#shrops8]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p385
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol4 p1

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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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