The Gatehouse website record for More Castle

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

Scheduling revised in 2001 to include larger area. The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a motte and bailey castle, partly formed from an earlier ringwork castle, the associated remains of a medieval village and ridge and furrow cultivation, situated on a tongue of land which extends into a lower lying former marshy area from the slightly higher ground to the east. At the western end of this peninsula is the site of the castle. It lies 600m NE of the motte and bailey castle at Lydham. Documentary evidence indicates that More originally lay within the manor of Lydham, and that in C12, probably during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135), it became a separate manor ... A document of 1215 mentions a castle at Moretoin, which is thought to refer to the castle at More ... [Details of constructional history] ... To the north east of the motte ... lie a succession of banked and ditched enclosures. The two principal rectangular enclosures nearest the motte are the inner and outer baileys to the castle ... [Details] ... The ditch separating the baileys was bridged by a causeway, about 7m wide. Within the inner bailey, levelled and raised areas indicate the positions of former buildings ... To the north east of the causeway ... are the remains of a former access road to the castle ... [Details] ... Much of the peninsula to the west of the present hamlet, including parts of the castle and medieval settlement remains, are overlain with ridge and furrow, indicating that when the area ceased to be occupied it was taken into arable cultivation. (EH Scheduling Report 2001)
Excavations by B Hope Taylor revealed some form of ring work predating the motte and at least one substantial stone building in the inner bailey. Dateable pottery was found. (Shropshire SMR record)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO33949140

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 107545
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 01224 '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 information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.

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