Caus Town Defenses

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Cause; Caurs; Chaus; Caws

In the civil parish of Westbury.
In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Shropshire, 1974 county of Shropshire).

Deserted medieval borough which was established primarily to serve Caus Castle. Caus was probably in existence by 1200 when the grant of a weekly market was obtained. The borough was encircled with a wall and two gates before 1300 and adjoined Caus Castle to the north and west. After the Black Death Caus went into decay and the last mention of a tenanted house there was in 1614. The free Chapel of St Nicholas opposite the Castle gate was in use until the destruction of the castle in 1645. The Chapel of St Margaret was founded in 1272 and is last documented in 1447. The interior street between East Gate and Wallop Gate was in use as part of a field road in 1816. The 9 acre site was surveyed in 1971. Iron Age hill fort forms long outer enclosure of now deserted Norman borough probably created by Roger Corbet in 1198 and it is recorded that by 1349 there were 58 burgesses living there.

This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence.
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 SJ338079

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; 925118

• Web site links
  • http://website.lineone.net/~corbett_group/First/caus.htm
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p28, 64, 80, 217, 265
    Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p32
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p210 [mention]
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p237
    Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries)
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p436
    Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) pp57-71