Weoley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Welegh

In the civil parish of Birmingham.
In the historic county of Worcestershire (Modern Authority of Birmingham, 1974 county of West Midlands).

Footings and foundations of a fortified manor house. Sandstone with 6 towers and a deep moat. These works date from 1264 when Roger de Somery was licensed to crenellate his manor house. A survey of 1422 gives a detailed plan. Fragments of early C13 wooden buildings have been discovered, indicating early use of both horizontal and vertical weatherboarding. Probably abandoned in mid C16. Excavated in 1932-39 and 1955-62

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry footings remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1264 March 16.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP02158275

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; 329299

• Web site links
  • http://www.bmag.org.uk/weoley_castle/history/
    http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/weoleycastle/weoleycastle.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/139/weoleycastle.htm
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p445
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p279-80
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p90-1 [plan]
    Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p52-3
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p321, 323-5
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p485-6 [Warwickshire]
    Aberg, F.A. (ed), 1978 Medieval moated sites (CBA research reports Vol17) p39
    Montgomerie, 1924, in Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), VCH, Worcester Vol4 p431, 433
    Willis-Bund, J.W., 1913, 'Parishes: Northfield' VCH Worcestershire Vol3 p194-201 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43107]
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p386
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p402
• Journal Articles
  • Symons, D., 1983-4, ‘Weoley Castle and Northfield in 1424’, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol93 p45–55
    Brownsword, R., Pitt E. and Symons, D., 1983-4, ‘The analysis of some metal objects from Weoley Castle’, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol93 p33–43
    Rigold, S.E., 1975, 'Structural aspects of medieval timber bridges' Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p65-7
    Smith J. T., 1965, 'The structure of the timber kitchen at Weoley Castle, Birmingham' Medieval Archaeology Vol9 p82-93
    (Oswald), 1964, Medieval Archaeology Vol8 p260
    Oswald, Adrian, 1962-3, 'Excavation of a 13th Century wooden building at Weoley Castle, Birmingham, 1960-61' Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p109-34
    (Oswald), 1962, Transactions of the Birmingham and West Midlands Archaeological Society Vol78 p61-85
    (Oswald), 1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol5 p328
    (Oswald), 1958, Medieval Archaeology Vol2 p195-6
    (Oswald), 1957, Medieval Archaeology Vol1 p157
    Chatwin, 1947-8, Birmingham Archaeological Society Vol67 p24-5
    Bark, 1932, Birmingham Archaeological Society Vol56 p119-20
    Pearson, 1902, Transactions of the Birmingham and West Midlands Archaeological Society Vol28 p51-67 [history only]
    Pearson, 1896, Transactions of the Birmingham and West Midlands Archaeological Society Vol22 p36-48
• Guidebooks
  • Anon, 1974, Weoley Castle. (Birmingham: Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery)
    Burchard, 1965, (Birmingham)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1258-66) p307