Hereford Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Hogg's Mount

In the civil parish of Hereford. In the historic county of Herefordshire (Modern Authority of Herefordshire, 1974 county of Hereford and Worcester).

Some earthworks (Motte has been leveled) and part of wet moat all that remain of important castle that may date back to about 1050. The post conquest castle consisted of a motte, now entirely destroyed, and a kite shaped bailey to the east, surrounded on three sides by a moat and on the fourth by the River Wye. The rampart on the north of the bailey rises 21.5ft above the water level of the castle-pool and beyond the moat to the east the ground outside is 29ft below the top of the rampart. The curtain wall and buildings within the castle were mainly C13 although part of the wall is mentioned as being in need of repair in C12. It was much damaged in the civil war and what remained was mostly demolished in 1660. Hogg's Mount, a second mound on the NE corner of the castle, may have been the site of the pre-conquest castle.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO51143965

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 Defra ELS number; 110142 County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number; 456

• Web site links
  • http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/castles/castlesdata_az/hereford.htm
    http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/cba/rr36.cfm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/hereford.html
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
    Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern) p36-8
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1996, Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press)
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p98
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p43, 44, 172
    Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p117-32
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p206
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p242-3
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1980, Hereford City Excavations - Vol1: Excavations at Castle Green (CBA Research Report 36) [downloadable at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/cba/rr36.cfm]
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    1969, Archaeological Excavations 1968 (HMSO) p23
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p673-7
    RCHME, 1931, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire. Vol1: south-west p119, 126
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p148
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p161-2
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Chalkley Gould, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hereford Vol1 p238-9
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p107-9
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p108-19
    Robinson, Rev C.J., 1867, The Castles of Herefordshire and Their Lords (Logaston Press, 2002 reprint) p71-5
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p377
• Journal Articles
  • Boucher, A., 2005, 'Hereford, Castle Pool' West Midlands Archaeology Vol48 p29-30
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p313
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T.B., 1984, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1983' Medieval Archaeology Vol28 p186 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1976-8, 'Archaeology, 1976: City of Hereford Archaeology Committee' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club Vol42 p97-100
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, ‘Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol21 p244 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1976, ‘Medieval Britain in 1975' Medieval Archaeology Vol20 p189 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1973, CBA Group2 Vol13 p49-50
    Leach, P J. ,1971, 'Hereford Castle Excavations 1968-69' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists Field Club Vol40 p211-24
    1970, Medieval Archaeology Vol14 p176 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    1969, Medieval Archaeology Vol13 p258 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Shoesmith, Ron, 1969, 'Reports on Sectional Recorders Archaeology' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p476
    Shoesmith, Ron (ed), 1969, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol15,4
    Shoesmith, Ron (ed), 1969, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol13, 9
    Shoesmith, Ron (ed), 1968, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol11, 3
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Noble, F., 1964, 'Medieval boroughs of West Herefordshire' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalist Field Club
    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
    Heys, 1960, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club Vol36 p343-57, 387-92
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Watkins, A.,1933, 'Foundations of Buildings in Hereford Castle' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club Vol1 p36-41
    Lloyd, James W., 1884, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p161-4 [surveys etc]
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p243-4
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/hertseng.html#herts7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p215, 218, 225
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p64-5