Ellesmere Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Eselmer; Mere

In the civil parish of Ellesmere Urban. In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Shropshire, 1974 county of Shropshire).

Medieval motte and bailey utilising a natural glacial moraine and surviving as an earthwork. It became a royal castle in 1138, by which time, presumably, stone structures had been built on the motte. The motte and bailey is thought to have been built by Roger de Montgomery shortly after 1086, for it was confiscated by the Crown after rebellion in 1101. The castle was abandoned some time after 1263. The mound is 80m in diameter across the base, 52m across the top, and stands 11m high. A ditch 20m wide and 3m deep separates the motte from the bailey to its South-East. The sub-rectangular bailey consists of a terrace, circa 34m by 70m, bounded on the North and East sides by a ditch. Earthworks to the North-West were once thought to be a second bailey, but are now known to be C19 and C20 landscaping.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ40313467

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 68623
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 01004 '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.ecastles.co.uk/ellesmere.html
• Books
  • Duckers, Peter and Anne, 2006, Castles of Shropshire (Stroud: Tempus) p73-5
    Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p42
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p211
    Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p24-5
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p424
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p227
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p183
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p645-6
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall [after Downham], 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol1 p394-5 [plan]
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p134
    Eyton, E.W., 1862, Collectanea Archaeologica (British Archaeological Association) Vol1 p46-7
• Journal Articles
  • 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
    1957-60, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol56 p3
    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
    Eyton, R.W., 1887, 'The castles of Shropshire' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol10 p28-30
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Ordericus Vitalis XIII cap 37
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p413-4
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#shrops16]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p394
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p74 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl02lelauoft ; Vol5 p223 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1987, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 32735 (07/07/1987)