Hyssington Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Castle Hill; Sneth; Snead; Sned; Snet

In the community of Churchstoke.
In the historic county of Montgomeryshire (Modern authority of Powys, preserved county of Powys).

A roughly rectangular enclosure, c.87m by 27-44m, defined by scarps, occupies the summit of a small hill, next to St Ethelreda's Church. At the N angle is a mutilated possible motte, c.23.5m by 27.5m, with traces of a ditch facing the interior of the enclosure and footings of an irregular polygonal structure, c.7.6-8.5m in diameter, upon its summit. The entrance is at the S angle, with the possible platform of a tower adjacent to it. In the centre of the enclosure are the traces of a rectangular building, 30m by 10m; these, traces of other, smaller buildings and the structure upon the 'motte' are thought to post date the castle occupation. This site may in fact be the castle of Snead occupied by Simon de Parcio in 1231, and given by Henry III to William de Bowles in 1233. An alternative site for this is Symon's Castle (qv).

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

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO31459451

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

National Monuments Record number; 306476

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 224

Web site links
- http://www.castlewales.com/hysngton.html
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of Mid Wales (Malvern) p41
  Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p152
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p296
  RCAHMW, 1911, An Inventory of Ancient Monuments in Montgomeryshire (HMSO) p50 No261
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
  Spurgeon, C.J., 1966, ‘The castles of Montgomeryshire’ Montgomeryshire Collections Vol58 p37-8, 55-6
  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
  Willans, J.B., Montgomeryshire Collections Vol35 p177-

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other indivduals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Ancient Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

Go to Previous Record Go to Next Record Back to List
This record last updated on Saturday, January 20, 2007

¤¤¤¤¤