Return to Herefordshire - Part 1: Richard's Castle

 

E was on holiday last week and wanted to go to Herefordshire for a few days.

Timothy looking forward to returning but very disgruntled that I had left him in a t-shirt when really he needed a cosy jumper!

Rubbish photo but the pheasants are back at the caravan site.

Definite signs of autumn colour now on the tree I am watching.

Tuesday afternoon after arriving we did the usual Morrisons click and collect in Leominster.,  We were lucky with the weather it was dry with some sunshine and it wasn't quite as cold as when D and I visited.

Wednesday B and E, having seen the photos D and I took of Wigmore Castle, decided they wanted to visit. Unfortunately we got fairly close to Wigmore but at Mortimer's Cross the main road was closed due to an accident. No diversion marked and all the sat nav wanted to do was keep sending us back to the closed main road. OS map was back at the caravan 😒and I recently threw away the old atlas kept in the car as it was falling to bits and have failed to replace it - bad move!!!  Trying to cut across country B spotted a sign saying Richard's Castle 4 miles which E hadn't visited so to cut a long story short we decided to go there instead.

Flowering ivy - great at this time of year for any late flying insects.

View from the tiny car park near the church and castle.

To reach the motte and bailey castle you pass the church of St Bartholomew which is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.

The church was probably founded by Richard FitzScrob, who also built the first castle, or his son Osbern, for the use of the settlement that had begun to grow up around the castle.  The nave and chancel were built in the 12th century, the church enlarged in the 14th century and south porch added in the 15th century. In the early 14th century the south aisle and arcade were built plus the North Chapel and the detached tower (one of 7 detached church towers in Herefordshire).

The church was restored in the 19th century and 1935.

I didn't go inside the church this time but if you would like to see the interior please see St Bartholomews Richards Castle

I don't think I remember seeing this Millennium Map on our last visit.

Holly berries in the churchyard.

Richard's Castle, four miles south of Ludlow, is probably the oldest castle in England and comprises a motte with the ruins of an octagonal tower keep protected by a bailey which was surrounded in stone and contained D-shaped and rectangular towers - one of which was an early gatehouse.  Richard Fitzscrob built the castle around 1050 and sited the keep on the hillside. In 1086 the castle was held by his son Osbern. The castle came into the hands of the Mortimers from 1211 to 1304.

Remains of the gatehouse.

You can still see the defensive ditch.

Remains of the stone curtain wall which surrounded the keep. It was built in the 13th century to replace the original wooden pallisade.  The square holes you can see were probably post holes used to support the scaffolding when the wall was originally built.

Remains of the keep with B and E at the top. I didn't venture up as I feared I might never get down again. I am afraid my knees these days are kn*ckered!

More remains of the curtain wall.

On our last visit I assumed this was a well but looking at the map of the site above it appears it is the remains of a medieval garderobe.

Back in the churchyard.

Back at the caravan that evening, a nearly full moon rising over a nearby copse.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.

Richard's Castle Motte and Bailey, Herefordshire

Last week as D was on holiday we went to Herefordshire for a few nights.


It was raining heavily on the journey on Thursday - Timothy in the car!

Friday it rained heavily on and off most of the day but luckily yesterday was dry and sunny so we decided to visit Richard's Castle which has a motte and bailey castle (possibly the earliest in the country) and a historic church.

The castle, which gives the village its name, pre-dates the Conquest by about 16 years but it was thoroughly Norman. Edward the Confessor encouraged the settlement of his Norman kinsmen and friends in Herefordshire and gave them gifts of land. This land was granted to Richard FitzScrob who built a castle on it around c1050 and sited his keep on the hilltop. In 1086 it was held by his son Osbern FitzRichard and remained in the family for several generations until it passed by marriage to the family of Talbot under the overlordship of the Mortimers. Later it came into the possession of the Salweys where it remained for 370 years.

Leland's survey 1540 report reports the castle was mainly standing but ruinous and later it housed a farm and its buildings. A ditch remains and remains of a gatehouse, curtain wall and keep.



When you reach the village the church is signposted and there is a small area where you can park.

View on the walk to the church.

St Bartholomew's Church with its detached tower is situated in the outer bailey - I'll go back to the church in another post and I actually plucked up courage this time to go inside so there will be some interior photos too.

The views were stunning from the churchyard.

Luckily I had done some research into how to find the motte and bailey. You walk past the church into the area of churchyard where there are more recent graves and at the top is a gate and path leading to the castle.

Ditch surrounding the castle.

Remains of the gatehouse.

More of those stunning views.

A well

Here you can see parts of the keep.

In the background is part of what remains of the curtain wall. In the 13th century the original pallisade surrounding the castle was replaced by a stone curtain wall - parts of which can still be seen. One fragment is more or less its full original height of 8 metres. A wall walk (raised platform along the inside of the curtain wall) linked the towers which was important for the defence of the castle.

The square holes you can hopefully spot in the wall were probably post holes for supporting wooden scaffolding used to build the wall.

Remains of the Keep

The original tower would have been made of wood but at the end of the 12th century it was replaced by a stone octagonal keep (octagonal keeps are rare in Britain) made of finely dressed limestone. The keep was 13 metres across with walls 3 metres thick at the base and each of the 8 sides was 6 metres long.

It originally would have had four floors - a basement, first floor which may have been used as a chapel as part of a portable altar along with 13th and 14th century pottery have been found, a 2nd floor perhaps used as accommodation by the castle owner and then the battlements. Acess to the keep was probably from the curtain wall.

I took one look at the crumbling steps and decided not to attempt to go up due to my "past their use by date" knees but B and D did go up to the top.

Curtain wall remains. The ruins had a wonderful sense of place and were quite atmospheric but it was time to leave.

A few photos taken by D.

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From the top of the Keep with me far below!

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View from keep

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Looking down - perhaps it was just as well I didn't attempt to go up!

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Next post a look around St Bartholomew's church and churchyard.



*D Photos taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera

Rest of photos taken by me with the Pansonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera