Charlton Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Chorlton; Cherleton; Chorleton Castel on Terne; Cherlton

In the civil parish of Wrockwardine. In the historic county of Shropshire (Modern Authority of Telford and Wrekin, 1974 county of Shropshire).

Large well preserved rectangular moat average c14m in width and c3m deep internally, the island being raised c0.7m above the surrounding ground level. The moat, which is waterfilled/waterlogged, has a well preserved causewayed entrance c2m wide across the NW arm which is the only dry arm. The moat island, which measures roughly 68m by 54m has a rubble bank running around most of its perimeter. On the island are excellently preserved building platforms associated with still standing masonry walls. Flanking the inner side of the causeway entrance at the NW side are two rectangular building platforms with large masonry foundations in them-possible flanking gate towers?. This entrance appears to open out into a central courtyard / open area bounded on its NE and SE sides by building platforms. The platform along the SE side is particularly impressive standing up to 0.7m high and surmounted along its W edge by a red sandstone wall up to 1.3m high. The platform at the NE corner has walling up to 3m in height. Extensive wall foundations survive on all the platforms and these suggest buildings of a large and grandiose nature. At the SE corner is a circular mound of rubble c3m in diameter and 0.5m high which may be the foundations of a corner tower. Lying c70m to the SE of the moat is an enormous fishpond c90m in length and c32m wide which is waterfilled again. Two shallow linear ditches c 1.5m in width run from the fishpond to the SE side of the moat. These could be contemporary or be C19 attempts at drainage as is the drain that runs out of the SW corner of the moat. The area to the S of the moat and around the fishpond shows other traces of major drains. Ridge and furrow running NW/SE lies immediately to the east of the moat, abutting onto its SE arm and onto the W side of the fishpond. (Watson, M.D., 1981 - Shropshire SMR report)
Sir John Charlton was licensed to crenellate his dwelling at Charlton in 1316, and in 1341 was allowed to have mass celebrated in a chapel there. The defended manor house, known as Charlton Castle, was apparently still used as a residence of the Lords of Powys in the earlier C16, but following 1588, it fell into disuse. Part of and apparently round corner tower and a length of curtain wall remained standing c1820 (Baugh 1985)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ59761118

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 70397
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 00037 '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) p53-4
    Salter, Mike, 2001 (2edn), The Castles and Moated Mansions of Shropshire (Malvern) p33
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p219 [slight]
    Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p16-17
    Baugh, G.C. (ed), 1985, VCH Shropshire Vol11 p312 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=18188
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p433
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p207
    Pevsner, N., 1958, The Buildings of England: Shropshire (London, Penguin) p95
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p133
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall [after Downham], 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol1 p405-6
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p407
• Journal Articles
  • Watson, M.D., 1987, 'Gazetteer of Moated Sites in Shropshire' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol65 p9
    1982, Moated Sites Research Group Report 9 p36
    1980, Medieval Village Research Group annual report Vol7 p53
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    1949-50, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol53 p258-62
    Eyton, R.W., 1887, 'The castles of Shropshire' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol10 p13
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1313-17) p566
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p424-5
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#shrops9]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p397, 399
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p14 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • English Heritage, 2001, Scheduling Papers [Revision, 09/03/2001]
    Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, 1987, Scheduled Monument Report on SAM 32236