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Ellesmere Castle
Also known as, or recorded in historical
documents as; Eselmer; Mere
In the civil parish of Ellesmere Urban.
In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Shropshire, 1974 county of Shropshire).
Medieval motte and bailey utilising a natural glacial moraine and surviving as an earthwork. It became a royal castle in 1138, by which time, presumably, stone structures had been built on the motte. The motte and bailey is thought to have been built by Roger de Montgomery shortly after 1086, for it was confiscated by the Crown after rebellion in 1101. The castle was abandoned some time after 1263. The mound is 80m in diameter across the base, 52m across the top, and stands 11m high. A ditch 20m wide and 3m deep separates the motte from the bailey to its South-East. The sub-rectangular bailey consists of a terrace, circa 34m by 70m, bounded on the North and East sides by a ditch. Earthworks to the North-West were once thought to be a second bailey, but are now known to be C19 and C20 landscaping.
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 SJ40313467
PastScape number;
68623
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p42
Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p211
Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p24-5
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p424
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p227
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p183
Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p645-6
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Wall [after Downham], 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol1 p394-5
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p134
Eyton, E.W., 1862, Collectanea Archaeologica (British Archaeological Association) Vol1 p46-7
Journal Articles
- 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
1957-60, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol56 p3
Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
Eyton, E.W., 1887, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol10 p28-30
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#shrops16]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p394
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p74 Vol5 p223
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