Earl Shilton Castle Yard

Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Motte)

There are earthwork remains

NameEarl Shilton Castle Yard
Alternative Names
Historic CountryLeicestershire
Modern AuthorityLeicestershire
1974 AuthorityLeicestershire
Civil ParishHinckley

The 'Castle Yard' contains the mount (a complex escarpment of 18ft), on which a castle of Simon de Montfort stood. The slightly hollowed top of the mount is still discernible but is now a kitchen garden. Originally much larger, the moat (nearly obliterated by buildings) is 6ft wide and 4ft deep, with an entrance at the south-east. The bailey was enlarged and adapted to a manorial residence. (VCH). The castle mound now situated in, and forming part of, a public path. Gardening/landscaping has grossly mutilated the original profile and pseudo drum towers and a footbridge have been constructed over a newly dug ditch in the southern face. The original ditch can be partially traced and attains a max depth of 1.2m; the mound has a height of 3.3m above the original ditch. There is no surface indication of a bailey although the park to south-west and the churchyard to the east are both significant. (Field Investigators Comments-F D Colquhoun/04-JUL-1972/Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigator) The circular motte is 50m in diameter. It is 3.0m high on the south side, 1.5m high on the north side, and flat-topped. The remains of the ditch and part of the bailey can be seen on the south side, but are much mutilated. The bailey bank to the south is 50m long and up to 1.0m high. The castle was founded by the Earl of Leicester soon after the Conquest, and demolished in the late C12. (scheduling report). (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 ReferenceSP470982
Latitude52.5796012878418
Longitude-1.30716001987457
Eastings447040
Northings298200
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink
Photograph by Andrew Herrett. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Andrew Herrett. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Andrew Herrett. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Andrew Herrett. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Andrew Herrett. All rights reservedView full Sized Image

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Books

  • Knox, Richard, 2015, 'The medieval fortified sites of Leicestershire and Rutland' in Medieval Leicestershire: Recent research on the Medieval Archaeology of Leicester (Liecestershire Fieldworks 3) p. 123-42
  • Hartley, Robert F., 2008, The Medieval Earthworks of South-West Leicestershire Hinckley and Bosworth (Leicestershire Museums Archaeological Fieldwork Monograph 2) p. 16 (plan)
  • Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p. 31
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 35
  • Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 141 (slight)
  • Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p. 45
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus; revised by Elizabeth Williamson with Geoffrey K Brandwood, 1984, Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland (Harmondsworth)
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 253
  • Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  • Wall, C., 1907, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol. 1 p. 258 online copy
  • Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 413 online copy

Journals

  • Creighton, O.H., 2004, ''The Rich Man in his Castle, The Poor Man at His Gate': Castle Baileys and Settlement Patterns in Norman England' Cha^teau Gaillard Vol. 21 p. 25-36
  • Creighton, O.H., 1997, 'Early Leicestershire Castles: Archaeology and Landscape History' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 71 p. 30-31 online copy
  • Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 53 p. 35-6 online copy

Other

  • Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 155, 161-2, 248-9, 383-4 online copy