Aldford Blobb Hill

In the civil parish of Aldford. In the historic county of Cheshire (Modern Authority of Cheshire, 1974 county of Cheshire).

Alford is not directly mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086. It was part of the scattered holding of Bigot de Loges. A timber and earth Motte and bailey castle was built here as part of a line of defence along the Welsh borders in C11. The first owner to take the name of Aldford was Robert de Aldford, who built or refortified the castle in stone just in C12. In 1209 Sir John Ardene succeeded to estate and the manor remained in the Arderne family until 1464, when it passed to Stanleys by marriage until 1503. For the next two centuries it was rented and leased. The castle fell into decay and much of stone was robbed. By end of C18 it had passed to Grosvenor family in whose estate it remains. Both the Motte and bailey were planted with trees and, with the water-filled bailey ditch, they formed a parkland. (Cheshire HER)
Motte and bailey castle surviving as an earthwork with remains of shell keep. The motte has an average height of 5.2m and is flat topped. It is surrounded by a ditch with an average width of 10m at the lower level and from the exterior 2.4m. an outer bank 1.2m high extends around part of the east side. The bailey is enclosed by a ditch 2m deep and 18m wide. The castle may date to C12. Excavation in 1959 by two scholboys found a piscina. Geophysical Survey in 1996 of the motte and bailey to locate any anomalies, in particular evidence of building remains. The positive results are hard to interpret; there may be one large rectangular building with a possible tower at its NW corner, or a range of buildings. There is some evidence of a wall enclosing the motte. No clearly defined archaeological anomalies were detected within the bailey. A small exploratory excavation in 1999 directed by S.W Ward and A. Lowerre of Boston College, USA, was carried out with volunteers from Chester Archaeological Society and elsewhere. Work continued in 2000. 2002 was the third season. No Norman deposits were found, but medieval features included an occupation layer, cess pit, possible stone building spread, bone fragments and C13-C14 pottery.
There is a slight suggestion that Aldford was the site of a Saxon royal palace (Dodgson, 1972, p75)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ41895952

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 68791
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 1836/1/0 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/117/aldfordcastle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/aldford.html
    http://www.alfordassociation.org/motte.pdf
    http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/330598
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p13
    Tindall, Adrian (ed), 1995, Cheshire Past. An annual review of Archaeology in Cheshire. Issue 4 (Chester: Cheshire County Council)
    Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p10
    Sale, B. and Turner, R.C., 1985, The Motte and Bailey Castle at Aldford
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p66
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p176
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Dodgson, J.McN., 1972, The Place-Names of Cheshire Vol4 p77-8
    Ridgway, Maurice Hill, 1958, 'Medieval Castles' in Sylvester, D. and Nulty, G. (eds), The Historical Atlas of Cheshire (Cheshire Community Council) p24-5
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol2 p162-3 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland02mack#page/162/mode/1up
    Ormerod, G., 1882 [2edn], History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol2 p757-8
• Journal Articles
  • Ward, S., autumn 2000, 'Digging deep at Aldford Castle' The Past Uncovered: Quarterly Newsletter of Chester Archaeology
    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
    Wilson, D.M. and Hurst, J.G., 1960, 'Medieval Britain in 1959' Medieval Archaeology Vol4 p145 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Thompson, F.H., 1960, 'Stone Piscina from Aldford' Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society Vol37 p35-6
    1910, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol65 p193
    Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol46 p197-217 esp201 http://www.archive.org/stream/archaeologicaljo46brit#page/197/mode/1up
• 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] p133
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Shaw, Mike and Clark, Jo, 2003, Cheshire Historic Towns Survey, Aldford, Archaeological Aseessment http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D2FA8F72-FE91-455C-88E0-184A0C193CB8/0/HTS_Arch_Assess_Aldford.pdf
    Ward, S. (ed), 2003, Aldford Castle Cheshire 2002. Excavation Interim Report Archaeological Service Evaluation & Assessment Report No 66, Chester City
    Council. Unpublished report (CCC report R2472)
    Ward, S. (ed), 2001, Aldford Castle Cheshire 2000. Excavation Interim Report Chester Archaeology Evaluation & Assessment Report No 61, Chester City Council. Unpublished report (CCC report R2348)
    Geophysical Surveys of Bradford, 1996 Aldford Castle, Cheshire: Report on Geophysical Survey unpublished document (CCC report R2492)
    Sale, .B and Turner, R., 1985, The Motte and Bailey Castle at Aldford Unpublished report in CSMR