Hartshill Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Hardreshull

In the civil parish of Hartshill. In the historic county of Warwickshire (Modern Authority of Warwickshire, 1974 county of Warwickshire).

Fortified manor house, probably built circa 1567. The remains of the house occupy the north east angle of a C12 motte enclosed by the remains of a circa 1330 wall. Remains of a C14 chapel are also within the walls. The motte is not quite circular, measuring some 50m by 45m at the base, and tapering to 10m in diameter at the top. it is 9m high and surrounded by a ditch. The ditch is 5m wide and 1.5m deep. There may have been two baileys. A polygonal curtain wall overlies one of the baileys. Recent excavations (2000) were apparently done without archaeological supervision!

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 309189)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP32549433

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 336263
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 240; 241 '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://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA240
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/140/hartshill.html
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/hartshill.html
• Books
  • Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p257
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p49
    Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p29-30
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p482
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p239
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Wedgwood, Alexandra, 1966, The buildings of England: Warwickshire p307
    Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1947, VCH Warwickshire Vol4 p131
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p350-1 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/350/mode/1up
• Journal Articles
  • Wilson, M., 2006, 'Demystifying Hartshill Castle: recent conservation and research' West Midlands Archaeology Vol49 p2-7
    Wilson, M., 2006, 'Hartshill Castle and an issue of trust' The Archaeologist Vol60 p24-5
    Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol67 p8-9
    Chatwin, P.B., 1928, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol53 p206-10
    Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol46 p197-217 esp213 http://www.archive.org/stream/archaeologicaljo46brit#page/197/mode/1up
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Baker, H.D., 1987, Warwickshire Monument Evaluation and Presentation Project
    Brown, G., 1997, A field investigation and survey at Hartshill Hayes