Eccleswall Castle, Linton

Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Ringwork), and also as a Certain Masonry Castle

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains

NameEccleswall Castle, Linton
Alternative NamesEccleswall Court
Historic CountryHerefordshire
Modern AuthorityHerefordshire
1974 AuthorityHereford and Worcester
Civil ParishLinton

Eccleswall Castle. The earthworks at Eccleswall Court have been much destroyed by cart tracks, farmyards etc. The flat-topped mound E of the modern buildings, has no scarp on the W side, but there are remains of a ditch on the south. To the E is a slight terrace and to the N is a large pond. About 170 yards below the site are a series of three ponds, now dry, formed by cross-banks. In the walls of the garden are some re-used stones, and above the entrance to the pigeon house is a label-stop carved as a man's head in a basinet. In poor condition. (RCHME). In the reign of Henry II Richard de Talbot obtained a grant of the lordship of Eccleswall and Linton, and he may have erected the castle, but no record exists, and now nothing remains except a grass-grown moat and a low mount of earth. Some fragments of masonry built into the farm premises which occupy the site may have belonged to the castle. (VCH) Probable fish-ponds are now an ill-defined marshy area at SO 65652344. Remains of the chapel consist of a single tower, of indeterminate date, incorporated into outbuildings at SO 65252324. (Field Investigators Comments F1 RWE 09-MAY-67) Eccleswell Castle, visited by King John in 1216, was allowed to fall into ruin when its owners acquired Goodrich Castle in 1342. There was formerly a chapel in Eccleswell Castle, to which the last presentation was made in March 1541. (Duncumb) The square, stone walled pigeon house at Eccleswell Court has three pointed lancet windows and was probably not built as a pigeon house; the walls are only 18" thick. (Watkins, 1890) SO 653234. The bank of the ringwork at Eccleswell Court has been destroyed. (King & Alcock, 1969). (PastScape)

the first reference to a castle was in 1726. In the medieval records Eccleswall is referred to as a manor. The Talbots had owned the manor since the time of Henry I. (Herefordshire SMR ref. Paul Remfry)

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSO652233
Latitude51.9071502685547
Longitude-2.5062301158905
Eastings365270
Northings223300
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Salter, Mike, 2002, Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 3
  • Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 28
  • Shoesmith, Ron, 2009 (Rev edn.), Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press)
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 205
  • 1981, Herefordshire Countryside Treasures (Hereford and Worcester County Council) p. 84
  • RCHME, 1932, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire Vol. 2: east p. xxvi (plan), 121 no. 2 online transcription
  • Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  • Gould, I. Chalkley, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Herefordshire Vol. 1 p. 254
  • Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 102 online copy
  • Robinson, C.J., 1869, The Castles of Herefordshire and Their Lords (London: Longman) p. 52-3 online copy
  • Duncumb, John, 1812, Collections towards the history and antiquities of the county of Hereford; Volume 2; Broxash Hundred, Ewyas Lacy Hundred and part of Greytree Hundred p. 383 online copy

Journals

  • Archaeological Research Section Woolhope NFC, 1993, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 60 p. 22-24 (plan)
  • Tonkin, J.W., 1982, 'Herefordshire Castles' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club Vol. 44.1 p. 31
  • King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol. 3 p. 90-127
  • Watkins, A., 1890, 'Pigeon Houses, Herefordshire, copiously illustrated' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club p. 16

Other

  • Small, F. and Stoertz, C. (eds), 2006, The forest of Dean Mapping Project, Gloucestershire: A report for the National Mapping Programme (English Heritage Research Department Report Series no. 28/2006) p. 81 online copy
  • Stoertz, C., 2004, The Marches Uplands Mapping Project: a report for the National Mapping Programme (English Heritage Aerial Survey Report Series AER/1/2004)