Castlefacts³

Cheney Longville Castle Ring

Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Ringwork)

There are earthwork remains

Name	Cheney Longville Castle Ring
Alternative Names
Historic Country	Shropshire
Modern Authority	Shropshire
1974 Authority	Shropshire
Civil Parish	Wistanstow

The ringwork lies to the north-west of Cheney Longville and is situated on high ground overlooking the village. Cheney Longville ringwork comprises a ditch and bank about 1.5m high enclosing a central area about 35m across. The interior of the ringwork is slightly raised above the surrounding ground level and has some irregularities suggesting the presence of buried buildings. The outer ditch is up to 3m deep and 5m wide on the south, west and north sides but has been considerably altered by a road on the north and north-east sides and by the building of a cottage on the south-east side. There are entrances to the site through the bank on the north and south sides but these are not considered to be original. The ringwork is thought to have been constructed in C11 or C12 and it may have been replaced by the moated castle site which lies 150m to the south west. (EH scheduling report 1993)

Ringwork castle as defined by Alcock and King. Traditionally a Civil War earthwork raised against Cheney Longvillle Castle (Stackhouse-Acton 1877). A medieval ringwork 47m in diameter overall, comprising and earthen bank 9m to 10m in width, and averaging 2m in height externally. There is no trace of a ditch. The bank rises above the interior, 1.3m on the S side to 2m on the N side, due to silting up on the lower southern side . The original entrance is in the N side and there is a modern break opposite, in the S side. No bailey can now be recognised (OS Record card). (Shropshire HER)

Gatehouse Comments

Despite the current French sounding name in Domesday Languefelle (Eyton transcibes the entry as Langafeld ) the manor was held a relatively rare Saxon survivor of the Conquest Siward the fat (Siward Le Gros) both before the Conquest and in 1086. He died early in the C12 and it is likely the ringwork is his work. Presumably it was on the site of his pre-Conquest manor and the questions are how much of that manor survived? How fortified was the pre-Conquest manor? Did Siward fortify his house in a Norman style post-Conquest?. In the C13 the manor was held for castle guard at Clun Castle.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)

109066

County Historic Environment Record

www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MSA201&resourceID=1015

OS Map Grid Reference	SO418849
Latitude	52.459300994873
Longitude	-2.85707998275757
Eastings	341860
Northings	284940