More information : SO 74973718.
Moated site known as Bronsil Castle. The origins of the settlement as Bronsil are unknown, but there were two major landholdings in Eastnor parish by 1086. There was almost certainly a dwelling there as Sir John Beauchamp is recorded as owning a residence here in the early 15th century and his son, Richard Beauchamp, was granted a licence to empark and crenellate in 1449, which was renewed in 1460. The majority of the surviving remains date from the mid 15th century, though the inner moat and fishponds may be earlier and the post-1460 mansion incorporated some earlier buildings. The remains represent an impressive residence, though of little defensive capability, with the moated island encircled by a curtain wall rising sheer from the water. The four corners were marked by octagonal towers and there were further towers in the centre of the north, south and east walls. The centre of the western wall was occupied by a gatehouse with octagonal flanking towers. The castle may have been burned during the Civil War and it was certainly ruinous by the early 18th century. The site was landscaped in the mid 19th century to create a romantic ruin, and a stone bridge was built over the western arm of the moat. The surviving earthworks include traces of a bank and part of an outer moat. East and south east of the inner moat lie the remains of a series of five linked ponds, probably originally fishponds, and possibly modified to form an ornamental feature in the mid 15th century. The earthen bank between the two moats may have acted as a walkway from which the mansion and its landscaped surroundings could be viewed. Little survives above ground on the moated island. The standing remains of the house comprise a number of masonry fragments, including part of the north tower of the gatehouse and a section of newel stair in the north eastern corner of the site.
For a detailed history of the castle see EH survey report 2000 by Smith, Brown and Field. (12)
Scheduled and Listed Grade II*. (1-9)
The earlier date of 1449 for the licence to crenellate cited in a number of the sources, originally comes from a single Victorian source (Robinson) and may well be erroneous. This licence does not appear in any Medieval Calendars of Royal Rolls, and there are some other internal inconsistencies in Robinson's account making it more doubtful. The licence of 1460 is however better documented, it does not explicitly appear to be a reconfirmation of an earlier grant. (10-11)
1840, when the moat was cleared out some weapons and ‘many other things’ were found.
1880 recorded that prior to Queen Victoria’s reign small cannon balls were picked up in the neighbourhood and could be seen in some of the cottages in the vicinity.
Small-scale survey by RCHM (1932)
Hereford Archaeological Unit, Ron Shoesmith, produced an account of the site’s history and scale plan (1996).
Excavation for scaffolding against gatehouse tower in 1990, no significant deposits recorded, but photograph of tower made before it collapsed into the moat.
Survey carried out February 2000 by English Heritage (12)
The survey work identified Bronsil as a medieval designed landscape. It was characterised by land modified by construction of lakes, ponds, embankments and drives arranged to provide ornamental outlook or approach. Older medieval traditions continued in the form of fishponds, which were identical to earlier fishponds apart from the fact they had surrounding walkways. (12)
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