Clifford; The Bage
Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Motte)
There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains
| Name | Clifford; The Bage |
| Alternative Names | Bach |
| Historic Country | Herefordshire |
| Modern Authority | Herefordshire |
| 1974 Authority | Hereford and Worcester |
| Civil Parish | Clifford |
Earthwork and buried remains of a motte castle, situated on the south west tip of a promontory overlooking the Bach Brook, at the head of the Dore Valley. The remains include an earthen motte mound, circular in plan, created by scarping the naturally steep sides of the spur to the west, south and east. The material obtained by this operation was piled up to create a steep sided mound, rising some 3m above the scarp, although the junction between mound and scarp is not clearly visible. The mound is slightly domed in profile, with a diameter of c.24m north-south at the base, and c.10m at the top. The scarp has been cut away somewhat on the eastern side by the construction of an embankment for the now disused Golden Valley railway. To the south west the motte overlooks an ornamental pool created in the 1970s by widening the dingle and damming the Bach Brook at the foot of the railway embankment. The scarp has been undercut to the west and south west by a trackway, beyond which it slopes steeply down to the pool some 8m below. In its strategic position overlooking the northern approaches to the Golden Valley the Bage motte castle is one of a concentration of medieval defensive monuments in this vicinity. It commands impressive views in all directions, and overlooks the motte and bailey castle at Newton some 1km to the north west (Scheduling Report)
The summit of the motte consists of only 27m square, and reaches a maximum height of 6.23m on the south-west side where it takes advantage of the natural lie of the land. There is no firm documentary evidence for a fortified site at this location. (PastScape)
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SO298433 |
| Latitude | 52.0843086242676 |
| Longitude | -3.02589988708496 |
| Eastings | 329820 |
| Northings | 243370 |
