Brow Castle, Westbury

Has been described as a Rejected Uncertain

There are earthwork remains

NameBrow Castle, Westbury
Alternative NamesBrough Castle; Lower Newton Farm
Historic CountryShropshire
Modern AuthorityShropshire
1974 AuthorityShropshire
Civil ParishWestbury

A square moat surrounds Lower Newton Farm (13401), which presumably is on the site of the former hamlet of Newton. The dry moat is up to 1.5m deep and remains on all but the east side of the house (Ordnance Survey Record Card 1971).

Rectangular moated site of which three sides survive. The N and W arms are best preserved and average c 6m wide and c 1.5m deep. It was probably fed by a stream that now runs along the W arm. The island measures c 28m square and is raised c 0.5m above the surrounding ground level. A timber framed farmhouse (SA 13401) stood on the island till it was demolished in the 1970s. Short stretches of outer bank can be traced along the N & S arms of the moat (M Watson 1981 Shrop SMR field report). (Shropshire HER)

A square moat surrounds Lower Newton Farm, which presumably is on the site of the former hamlet of Newton.

It was in a derelict condition in 1965. Late 16th-17th century it is a large timber-framed house of two storeys, later cased in brick and stone. Nearby is a small square dovecote of Jacobean brick. Lower Newton is said to have been known as Brough Castle, and there was probably a house here from early times. (VCH 1968; Forrest 1923-4)

Lower Newton Farm is in a ruinous state. The dry moat is up to 1.5m deep and remains on all but the east side of the house (F1 MHB 18-JUN-71). (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

A homestead moat, not of manorial status. Presumably, at some time, the moat was occupied by a house with grandiose name and probably some decorative battlements. The C17, Grade 2 listed Dovecot may be a relic of the period when the house had such pretensions. There was a Newetone recorded in the Shropshire Domesday which is an unlocated site but this was listed as in Merset Hundred and this site appears to be in neighbouring Reweset Hundred.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSJ383084
Latitude52.6706504821777
Longitude-2.91308999061584
Eastings338340
Northings308440
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Jackson, M.J.,1988, Castles of Shropshire (Shrewsbury: Shropshire Libraries) p. 69 (reject)
  • Gaydon, A.T. (ed), 1968, VCH Shropshire Vol. 8 p. 305
  • Wall (after Downham), 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Shropshire Vol. 1 p. 405

Journals

  • Watson, M.D., 1987, 'Gazetteer of Moated Sites in Shropshire' Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 65 p. 8
  • 1980, Moated Sites Research Group Report Vol. 7 p. 52
  • Forest, M.E., 1923-4, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 42 p. 237-8
  • 1892, Shropshire Notes and Queries (reprinted from The Shrewsbury Chronicle ) Vol. 1 p. 32-3