The Gatehouse website record for Alberbury Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Abberbury; Fitzwarine Tower

In the civil parish of Alberbury With Cardeston. In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Shropshire, 1974 county of Shropshire).

The monument includes the standing structural and buried remains of Alberbury Castle. It is situated very close to the present border between England and Wales, on a gentle rise above the flood plain of the River Severn, and is overlooked by higher ground to the south. The castle is located 70m SW of the Church of St Michael and All Angels, which dates from C12 .. The castle also lies 1.78km to the N of Wattlesborough Castle, a tower keep castle, dating from C12 or C13 .. Alberbury Castle was probably built by Fulk Fitz Warin (III) in the early C13, when it appears to have been the centre of the manor of Alberbury .. [details of manor descent] .. In the late C14 the descent of the manor becomes obscure, and it is also unclear how long the castle continued to be occupied. A map of 1579 clearly shows the castle as an unenclosed, rectangular roofed structure. Documentary sources indicate that in the early C17 there was a large house nearby at Loton. This house appears to have been replaced by Loton Park Hall, located 350m to the NW, built in the late C17. It would seem likely that by this time the castle had little function other than possibly as a lodge adjacent to the main drive to the Hall. A drawing of the castle indicates that by the late C18 the structure was roofless and in ruins. The tower keep is constructed of irregularly coursed Alberbury breccia, a locally derived stone. Dressed sandstone was used around the window openings and as corbels (upper floor supports). The building is rectangular in plan and measures apx 13.5m by 17m. The walls, which are about 2.3m wide at ground level, stand to a maximum height of about 9m. The structural evidence suggests that the building was originally two storeys high. The hall, used for ceremonial and public occasions, and the private chambers were situated on the first floor. The ground floor was probably used mainly for storage. There is no evidence on either floor of internal masonry cross walls or subdivisions. The configuration of the window openings, their irregular heights and sizes, suggest changes in the arrangement of rooms as the need for defence became secondary to comfort and convenience as a dwelling. These structural alterations probably relate to the more peaceful conditions in the region following the conquest of Wales by Edward I in the late C13. Probably between the mid C17 and the mid C18 a substantial stone wall was built to enclose the remains of the tower keep and the ground towards the church. This enclosure, previously viewed as part of the castle's defences, is now considered to have been constructed as a way of enhancing the visual impact of the castle as a feature within Loton Park Hall estate. Alberbury Castle is a good example of [a tower keep castle]. The structural details that are evident from the standing remains provide valuable evidence about the changing nature of military architecture and the domestic requirements of the nobility in the Welsh Marches during C13 and C14.. Structural features and associated deposits within the interior of the tower keep and around the exterior are expected to survive well, buried under fallen masonry. These deposits are likely to contain artefacts and organic remains .. During the post medieval period the remains of the castle assumed a new importance as a feature within the recently created designed landscape of Loton Park. The castle remains a prominent feature in the landscape. (EH scheduling report 2002)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ358144

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 66500
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 00270 '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.

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.