Bretchel; The Beacon

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 remains of a small motte castle situated on the summit of a small hill overlooking, to the south, the main east to west valley routeway between Shrewsbury and Welshpool. It includes a small, steep sided castle mound, or motte, of earth and rubble construction, roughly circular in plan with a base diameter of 15m. The motte summit stands 3m above the surrounding natural land surface and has a diameter of approximately 8m. A ditch, from which material for the construction of the mound was quarried, remains visible as a slight surface depression 3m wide and 0.1m deep surrounding the motte

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ33631182

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 66554
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 01081 '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.

• Books
  • Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p30-31
    Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p87 [slight]
    Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p5
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p433 [Wollaston no3]
• Journal Articles
  • King, D.J.C. and Spurgeon, C.J., 1965, ‘The mottes in the Vale of Montgomery’ Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol114 p81-2
    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
    Chitty, Lily, 1949, 'Subsidiary Castle Sites West of Shrewsbury' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society Vol53 p83-90
    1892, Shropshire Notes and Queries Vol1 p34
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • English Heritage, 1995, Scheduling Papers (Affirmation, 15/11/1995)
    Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1986, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 21042