More information : (SO 444 304) Kilpeck Castle (GT) (Remains of) Moat (GT). (1)
"A motte & bailey castle with inner and outer baileys. The motte, on which stood a polygonal shell-keep, stands 27' in height above its ditch. The scanty remains of the keep, which are prob 12th century in date, no doubt superseded timber defences. The kidney-shaped inner bailey lies to the E of the motte with its entrance on the SW side, where there is a gap in the ramparts; a small mound may hide the remains of a gatehouse. The outer baileys are to the N & S of the main enclosures, & have either ditches or natural defences. It was garrisoned by the Parliamentary forces in 1645, after which it was slighted." (2)
Visited 15.7.52. As described above. The features shown to the W of the castle, running down to the stream and to the N at "A" (SO 443 306) are probably natural. (3)
Kilpeck Castle and its associated earthworks are largely as described by R S Simms but the entrance to the inner bailey is on the SE Side. The outer bailey, to the N at SO 4436 3061, has now been ploughed out, and the earthworks to the W of the castle incorporate a pondbay spanning the stream at SO 4424 3050. Published survey 1:2500 revised. (4)
[Field report prepared by F1 (source 3) appears to have included an annotated plan, but this could not be located and may not have survived]. (5)
Description of site prepared for the Victoria County History acknowledges "traces of a platform 120 ft north-west of the castle which may have been a defended enclosure of oval form, 300 ft by 150 ft" [a feature shown in plan and section by RCHM (source 2a) cf source 4], and the damming of the stream to the west, ascribing this to former fishponds, or "as G.T. Clark thought (a) [to] a means of creating a series of long and deep lakes rendering approach from the Welsh borders difficult and hazardous". (6)
SO 444305. Motte with five baileys and a 'burgus' [an enclosed village annexation. See SO 43 SW 5]. Extant 1134, with probable foundation at the beginning of the 12th century, or earlier. Its ruins were temporarily occupied during the Civil War. (7)
SO 44453051. Trial excavations undertaken by J. Sawle within inner bailey during April and May 1982, to evaluate the quality of archaeological deposits threatened by a proposed extension to the graveyard of the adjacent church. At least seven periods of occupation were identified in the small area examined, with pottery associated with the earliest periods of the site giving a date range from the 12th to the 14th or 15th centuries. Excavation revealed evidence of both timber and stone buildings, and a metalled yard or trackway c.15m wide, overlying the tail of the rampart. (8-10)
Proposed graveyard extension within area of castle bailey ruled out after trial excavation in 1982 demonstrated the survival of well stratified deposits, and an area to the north of the church investigated as an alternative location [see SO 43 SW 5]. (11)
Listed by Shoesmith. (12) |