Shrawardine Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle Isabel; Schiewardin; Schrewardin; Shewurthyn; Shrawardic; Shraydon; Slawurthin; Sretwrthin; Srewrhin; Srwardin; Strawurdi; Scrawardin

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

Shell keep castle with a motte, three baileys and associated settlement earthworks. It is thought the castle was originally founded after the Conquest by order of Henry I and was first documented 1165 when Philip Helgot wrote acknowledging service of the castle guard to the Crown. An earthwork survey in 1979 of the motte, bailey and moat found the motte measured 40m by 30m and survived to a height of 4m. Traces of the moat were also recorded, it was 8m wide and had a depth of 0.8m. The southeast bailey was rectangular in plan and measured 40m by 30m. It was partly bounded by an earth and stone bank and outer bank.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry footings 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 259224)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ40061537

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; 67867

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/shraw.html
    http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/shraward/shraward.htm
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/history/2003/12/shrawardine_castle.shtml
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p69
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p215
    Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p52
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p429
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p297-8
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p311
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p834
    Pevsner, N., 1958, The Buildings of England: Shropshire (London, Penguin) p247
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p151-2
• 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
    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]
    1912, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol2 p284
    Auden, 1895, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol7 p120-202
    Eyton, E.W., 1887, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol10 p30-1
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#shrops14]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p390, 397