Weoley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Welegh

In the civil parish of Birmingham. In the historic county of Worcestershire (Modern Authority of Birmingham, 1974 county of West Midlands).

Footings and foundations of a fortified manor house. Sandstone with 6 towers and a deep moat. These works date from 1264 when Roger de Somery was licensed to crenellate his manor house. A survey of 1422 gives a detailed plan. Fragments of early C13 wooden buildings have been discovered, indicating early use of both horizontal and vertical weatherboarding. Probably abandoned in mid C16. Excavated in 1932-39 and 1955-62

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP02158275

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 329299
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular '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, or elsewhere.

• Web site links
  • http://www.bmag.org.uk/weoley_castle/history/
    http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/weoleycastle/weoleycastle.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/139/weoleycastle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/weoley.html
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p445
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p279-80
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p90-1 [plan]
    Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p52-3
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p321, 323-5
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p485-6 [Warwickshire]
    Aberg, F.A. (ed), 1978 Medieval moated sites (CBA research reports Vol17) p39
    Montgomerie, 1924, in Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), VCH Worcestershire Vol4 p431, 433
    Willis-Bund, J.W., 1913, 'Parishes: Northfield' VCH Worcestershire Vol3 p194-201 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43107
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p386 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/386/mode/1up
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p402
• Journal Articles
  • Symons, D., 1983-4, ‘Weoley Castle and Northfield in 1424’, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol93 p45–55
    Brownsword, R., Pitt E. and Symons, D., 1983-4, ‘The analysis of some metal objects from Weoley Castle’, Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol93 p33–43
    Rigold, S.E., 1975, 'Structural aspects of medieval timber bridges' Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p65-7 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Smith J. T., 1965, 'The structure of the timber kitchen at Weoley Castle, Birmingham' Medieval Archaeology Vol9 p82-93 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    (Oswald), 1964, Medieval Archaeology Vol8 p260 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Oswald, Adrian, 1962-3, 'Excavation of a 13th Century wooden building at Weoley Castle, Birmingham, 1960-61' Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p109-34 [Photographs and plans] [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Oswald, A.H., 1962, 'A wooden building of John's reign' Country Life Vol131 p405-6
    (Oswald), 1962, Transactions of the Birmingham and West Midlands Archaeological Society Vol78 p61-85
    (Oswald), 1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol5 p328 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    (Oswald), 1958, Medieval Archaeology Vol2 p195-6 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    (Oswald), 1957, Medieval Archaeology Vol1 p157 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Chatwin, 1947-8, Birmingham Archaeological Society Vol67 p24-5
    Bark, 1932, Birmingham Archaeological Society Vol56 p119-20
    Pearson, 1902, Transactions of the Birmingham and West Midlands Archaeological Society Vol28 p51-67 [history only]
    Pearson, 1896, Transactions of the Birmingham and West Midlands Archaeological Society Vol22 p36-48
• Guidebooks
  • Anon, 1974, Weoley Castle. (Birmingham: Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery)
    Burchard, 1965, (Birmingham)
• 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 (1258-66) p307
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p457