The Gatehouse website record for Brockhurst Castle, Church Stretton

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Brocards; Strettondale; Stratton

In the civil parish of Church Stretton. In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Shropshire, 1974 county of Shropshire).

The monument includes the remains of Brockhurst Castle and an associated causeway. The castle is believed to be the remains of a tower keep castle, built around 1154 by Henry II to guard the main north to south route through Shropshire where it passes through the Church Stretton valley. It is situated in a naturally defensive position on the southern tip of a small north-south ridge, overlooking the once marshy floor of Stretton Dale to the south and west. By 1215 the custody of the castle was in dispute and as a result it seems to have been slighted and deserted shortly after this date. Although the castle is believed to have been a tower keep fortification originally, all that remains visible today are the earthwork elements of the castle. These comprise two plateau-like wards or baileys separated by a ditch. Surrounding both baileys is a formidable defensive ditch averaging 8m wide and 2.6m deep. This is augmented around the south west, west and north west sides by a substantial outer bank, up to 10m wide and 3.5m high on its outer face, 1.4m high on its inner face. The outer ditch has been cut around the end of the natural spur, on average 6m below the levelled summit, creating the two plateau-like wards of the castle, the spoil from the ditch being thrown outwards to form the counterscarp bank. The northern bailey is the smaller of the two with internal dimensions of 44m north west to south east by 28m north east to south west. The levelled interior stands 5m above the base of the outer ditch and is bounded around its north and west sides by a well defined inner bank 0.7m high running along the edge of the main scarp. This is interrupted at the northern corner of the bailey by a simple entrance gap 2m wide, the outer ditch is similarly interrupted at this point by an original causeway which is approached by a trackway which climbs the hill from the north west. Terraced 0.2m into the south east corner of the bailey is a rectangular platform 7m square, this may represent the foundations of an original building. In the northern quarter of the bailey, cut into the face of the inner bank, are the remains of a trench 4m long by 2m wide, it may date from an archaeological exploration of the monument undertaken in 1959. The second bailey lies to the immediate south west, separated from the northern bailey by a substantial ditch 14m wide and 3m deep cut across the line of the natural spur. Excavation in 1959 demonstrated that the southern bailey was defended along this north western edge by a massive stone wall, the stone from which had been largely robbed away. Today a small section of the wall protrudes through the turf towards the top of the bailey scarp. A posthole near its base suggested that the ditch had originally been crossed at this point by a wooden bridge, linking the two baileys. A low causeway crossing the ditch here is therefore thought to be more recent. The levelled interior of the second bailey measures 53m south west to north east by 40m north west to south east. Today it shows no visible evidence of any structures; however, the 1959 excavation revealed it to have once had a stone curtain wall identified as dating from c.1154 with internal wooden buildings dated to c.1214 (EH scheduling report 1994)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO44659255

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 109371
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 01250 '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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