The Gatehouse website record for Biddulph Lea Forge

In the civil parish of Biddulph. In the historic county of Staffordshire (Modern Authority of Staffordshire, 1974 county of Staffordshire).

The earthwork and buried remains of a ringwork castle situated within Bailey's Wood to the north of Biddulph. A D shaped earthwork situated in a strong defensive position at the eastern end of a prominent ridge with the ground falling away steeply to the Biddulph Brook on the north, east and south. The castle is thought to have originally belonged to the de Vernon family of Alton. Excavations in 1966 have demonstated that the ringwork was originally built in C12 and timber framed buildings were replaced in stone in C13. Traces of a wooden palisade were visible in the top of the rampart bank. A large quantity of Medieval pottery was found. The castle was abandoned in C16.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ88945948

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 76072
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 00179 '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.

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