Castle Bromwich Castle Hill

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Pimple Hill; The Tump; The Tumulus

In the civil parish of Castle Bromwich.
In the historic county of Warwickshire (Modern Authority of Solihull, 1974 county of West Midlands).

The remains of a motte and bailey mostly destroyed by the construction of the M6 motorway. A much mutilated, reduced and mis-shapen motte remains, measuring, at the base, 48m east to west, by 30m north to south and 4.5m in height. The summit of the motte measures 17m by 12m. A short stretch of bailey ditch 18m in length and 10m in width was excavated by Birmingham Museum. These excavations also revealed evidence for a timber structure on top of the motte and C12-C13 buildings inside the bailey along with a C16 house. Evidence for Medieval and Roman settlement was found.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Cropmarks/slight earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP14199005

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 332117

Books

Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p263 [slight]
Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p35
Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p24
Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p49, 296-8, 358
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p481-2
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p195
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1947, VCH Warwickshire: Vol4 p44
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Doubleday, H.A. and Page, Wm (eds), 1904, VCH Warwickshire Vol1 p365-6
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p347-8

Journal Articles

Rigold, S.E., 1975, 'Structural aspects of medieval timber bridges' Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p80
Ford, W.J. 1971, 'Castle Bromwich Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol128 p214-15
Wilson, D.M. and Moorhouse, S., 1971, Medieval Archaeology Vol15 p148-9
Ford, B., 1969 p34-5, CBA Group 8: West Midlands Research Committees reports Vol12 p34-5
Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol67 p9-10

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