Castlefacts³

Welshwood Farm, Brilley

Has been described as a Questionable Timber Castle (Other/Unknown)

There are no visible remains

Name	Welshwood Farm, Brilley
Alternative Names	Walelege
Historic Country	Herefordshire
Modern Authority	Herefordshire
1974 Authority	Hereford and Worcester
Civil Parish	Brilley

Shoesmith in the 1996 edition of Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire writes the 'domus defensabilis' mentioned in 'Domesday Book' may have been sited here and adds Walelege means 'wood of Welshmen'. In the revised edition this specific identification is not made but he does state 'once thought to be at Ailey in Kinnersley parish, but now believed to be in Brilley parish.'

Gatehouse Comments

Quite what form a 'domus defensabilis' might take and what, if any, archaeological remains it would leave are an open question. Village nucleation in Herefordshire was not complete and there do seems to have been a number of relatively isolated farmsteads held by thegnal and knightly service so this location is not improbably but that could also said of many other such farms. A possibility may be Brilley Green (SO273488 - SMR no 33824).See record for Walelege for historic bibliography.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

County Historic Environment Record

www.herefordshire.gov.uk/environmental-protection/conservation-and-sustainability/archaeology-excavations-and-surveys?q=historic&type=suggestedpage

OS Map Grid Reference	SO277491
Latitude	52.1357307434082
Longitude	-3.05744004249573
Eastings	327720
Northings	249120