Whittington Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle of Roger de Powis

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

Earlier medieval motte and bailey castle surviving as an earthwork first built in 1138 and altered in 1221 with the construction of a stone keep, curtain walls, towers and a gatehouse which was restored in the late C18. A moat, fishpond and other ditches survive. A mound, sometimes suggested as an early motte, survives to a height of 4.7m and is 38m north to south by 34m transversely. This is now considered to be an early prospect mound for the formal gardens. However, I consider it to be a truncated remnant of a raised bailey platform (the motte being under the keep) possible retained as a prospect mound. Two towers still remain. The castle was decayed but nearly entire when surveyed in 1545, but later fell into ruin and was robbed for its materials. In the late C18, the site was laid out as a garden, with pebble-laid paths and brick structures. A moat, fishpond and other ditches survive. The castle has been excavated by R. A. Hartley. Licence to crenellate granted to Fulk Fitz Warine in 1221.

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 ruins/remnants remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1221.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 255836)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ32563109

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; 66896

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlewales.com/whittng.html
    http://www.btinternet.com/~whittington.castle/
    http://www.shropshiretourism.info/castles/whittington/index.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p84-6
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p218-9
    Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p63-5
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p432, 434
    Meisel, J., 1980, Barons of the Welsh Frontier p36, 38, 42, 88, 190-1
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p317-8
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p345
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p134
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall [after Downham], 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol1 p401
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p160-1
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p521-5
    Acton, F. Stackhouse, 1868, The Castles and Old Mansions of Shropshire (Shrewsbury) p18
    Davies, William, n.d. c.1813-15, History of Whittington [mainly on dilapidations]
• Journal Articles
  • Bradley, J and Gaimster, M. (eds), 2004, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2003' Medieval Archaeology Vol48 p287-8
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, ‘Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol21 p238
    King, D.J.C., 1973, ‘Whittington Castle' The Hundred-and-Twentieth Annual Meeting in Wrexham and District, 1973, CAA p24-5
    (Hartley), 1971, Medieval Archaeology Vol15 p148
    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]
    Hemp, 1923, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol78 p409-412
    Eyton, E.W., 1887, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol10 p19-20
    Clark, G.T., 1878, 'Oswestry and Whittington' Archaeologia Cambrensis [ser4] Vol9 p187-93
    1814, Gentlemans Magazine Vol84 pt2 p105
• Guidebooks
  • Brown, Pete, 2003, Whittington Castle Shropshire (Whittington Castle Preservation Trust/English Heritage)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi asservati (Record Commission) Vol1 p460a
    Rot. de Oblatis, 224
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#shrops15]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p396, 397
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol3 p76