Castlefacts³

Lingen Castle

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

There are earthwork remains

Name	Lingen Castle
Alternative Names	The Churchyard
Historic Country	Herefordshire
Modern Authority	Herefordshire
1974 Authority	Hereford and Worcester
Civil Parish	Lingen

Lingen Castle is a motte and bailey earthwork situated to the immediate north of the church. It consists of a roughly circular motte with a large bailey on the west Side. The motte is around 19.2 metres in diameter at the top and it rises circa 6.7 metres above the bottom of a dry ditch. It is roughly level on the summit though the north east portion is slightly higher. The bailey on the west is roughly square and has remains of an inner rampart with traces of a deep ditch on the south and west. On the south side a second rampart forms a bank to the moat. There are traces of a curtain wall around the bailey. The western defences can now hardly be traced. There is evidence to suggest that a shell keep with a gatehouse on the West Side may have once existed on this site. The site is now under pasture but the features remain clearly visible and in good condition. Adjacent to the castle on the north side are the earthwork remains of a medieval village. Lingen Castle and its associated village is an excellent example of a planned Welsh Borders Norman settlement with its castle, church and fossilised village still present today. The motte and bailey are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs.(PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

This large and elaborate earthwork stands north of and adjacent to the church yard, and is mostly made up of a natural hill (upon which the church also stands) which has been landscaped for defensive use. Trace of curtain wall around bailey. The name 'The Churchyard' is applied to both castles in Lingen parish. It seems to be most often applied to the ringwork which is isolated and not near a Church, it is less often applied to the motte and bailey adjacent to the actual churchyard of Lingen parish church.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

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

106359

County Historic Environment Record

htt.herefordshire.gov.uk/her-search/monuments-search/search/monument?smr_no=1669

OS Map Grid Reference	SO365672
Latitude	52.2998809814453
Longitude	-2.93112993240356
Eastings	336580
Northings	267270