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SHOTWICK CASTLE

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A medieval motte and bailey castle on the crest of a steep escarpment above the east bank of the former course of the River Dee. Its defensive position is enhanced by two steep sided watercourses flanking it on the north and south sides. The motte itself is a small mound, hexagonal in plan and 40 metres by 20 metres at the top. From limited excavation in the last century there appears to be the foundations of a stone keep surviving to a depth of 2.3 metres under the turf. The motte ditch surrounds the motte and is about 25 metres wide and 3 metres deep. This would have been flooded at high tide. To the south east is a small bailey 38 metres wide at the top. The castle was built by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, during the 11th century. Under various owners the castle formed part of the defence of the borders with the Welsh until 1281 when peace was finally made with the rulers of Wales. In 1327 the manor was emparked as a royal game park for the recreation of Edward III. The last major repairs are documented in 1371. Scheduled.

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[SJ 3498 7044] Shotwick Castle [G.T.] (Site of). (1)

Although no references to the Castle of Shotwick have been found before the middle of the 13th century, it seems very probable that it was in existence long before that. It has generally been assumed to have been the work of the Norman Earls of Chester - possibly of Hugh Lupus before 1093. The "houses of Shotwick" occur in 1245 (2a); the castle is mentioned in 1260 (2b), though the documentary evidence is now not forthcoming. A letter close is dated by Edward I from Shotwick Castle, 5 Sep 1278. (2)

"Shotwick castle, now in ruins, was a pentagon of 51 feet on each side. The Water Tower, five story high." (3)

"The earthworks consist of a large mound, divided by a deep ditch from an immense mound in the form of a crescent, which is surrounded by an intrenchment about twenty feet deep. This outer mound is said to have been crowned by a massive battlemented wall, but this is probably incorrect or it would have been shown in the...plan of the castle which was drawn by Randle Holmes (c. 1680), at which time it was in a ruinous condition".

A building in the farmyard of the lodge [SJ 351 713] is built of bricks and stones, with mullioned windows, all brought from the castle ruins. The bricks are small and thin - as were those found in excavations on the site of the castle made by Mr. Williams, schoolmaster of Saughall, in 1876, who "uncovered the foundations at a depth of about 7 ft. resting on great boulder pebbles; together with a pebbled roadway leading from an arched way into the courtyard and a watercourse." Glazed pottery and a spur were also found. (4)

Shotwick Castle is scheduled as an Ancient Monument, no Cheshire 11. (5)

An annotated 25" survey has been made. (6)

Shotwick Castle looking SE, see GPs F/54/169/5 & 6. (7)

Survey of 3/5/60 (Authority 6) still correct. (8)

No change since reports of 3/5/60, 16/11/60 and 12/3/64. Published survey 1:2500 correct. (9)

Shotwick Castle is listed under "Early Castles in Wales and the Marches'. (10)

The earthwork remains of the motte and bailey castle of Shotwick lie at SJ 3496 7045 (FCE). This former royal castle, dating to the early medieval period, is situated on the crest of a steep escarpment (that was, at that time, the shore of the Dee estuary) at the apex of a promontory formed by two streams that drain into the reclaimed floodplain. The surviving earthworks comprise a steep-sided earthen motte separated from a kidney-shaped bailey by a deep crescential ditch 25m wide and 3m in depth. Both motte and bailey were isolated from the ground to the east by a second large ditch around the outer edge of the bailey. This ditch is 15m wide and 2.2m deep at the north end, increasing to a maximum width of 29m and 3.8m in depth towards the southern end. The ditch around the north-west of the castle has subsequently been widened out to form part of a series of ornamental ponds (see SJ 37 SW 18).

The motte, measuring 40m north-south and 20m east-west, is an irregular hexagon in shape and displays a general corrolation with the shape of the castle shown in an early plan (reproduced in Stewart-Brown, 1912, 128). The surface of the motte is uneven, though it is not possible to attribute these irregularities to any particular feature shown on the plan. A shallow L-shaped ditch in the north-east corner may indicate the position of a trench from Williams' 19th-century excavations. The motte has also been disturbed by treasure hunters (Cheshire County Council SMR).

The bailey is a maximum width of 38m at the north end tapering to a point at the south end, and some 80m north-south. Its interior is covered in a pattern of slight but regular scarps which are best understood as part of a formal garden associated with a later phase of the site (see SJ 37 SW 18).

The bailey and parts of the ditch have been over-ploughed by narrow ridge-and-furrow. The site is currently under pasture.

The above description is summarised from a detailed level 3 RCHME 1:1000 scale survey conducted in January 1996. The products of the survey have been deposited in the NMR. (11)

SJ 3494 7044. Shotwick Castle motte and bailey is scheduled as an Ancient Monument, RSM no 13452. The castle was built by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, during the 11th century and later became part of a royal manor. It was used as protection against the Welsh until 1281 after which it declined as a military stronghold. The castle was in ruins by 1621 and was finally demolished in 1756. (12)

Additional references. (13-14)

Listed by Cathcart King. (15)

Shotwick was one of the castles of the earldom of Chester that came into the King's hands in 1237. Although it commanded a ford over the River Dee, it was never of more than minor importance, and when the Black Prince visited in 1353, at which time it was not even garrisoned, it was described as a manor rather than a castle. Last major repairs documented in 1371. (16)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1908-38

( 2) Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire

R Stewart-Brown 64, 1912 Page(s)82-142

( 2a) General reference

Pat.Roll Nov 1, 1245.

( 2b) General reference

Dugdale's Baronage, ii, 57

( 3) General reference

Gough's Additions to Camden's "Britannia", Vol. 2, 1789, p.434

( 4) General reference

Sulley P. 1889. The Hundred of Wirral, 114-116

( 5) General reference

Ministry of Works. 1958. Ancient Monuments of England and Wales, 19

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F1 DS 03-MAY-60

( 7) Field Investigators Comments

F2 FDC 16-NOV-60

( 8) Field Investigators Comments

F3 TPW 12-MAR-64

( 9) Field Investigators Comments

F4 FKB 21-OCT-75

(10) Archaeologia Cambrensis

Hogg and King 119, 1970 Page(s)119

(11) Field Investigators Comments

Cathy Tuck/09-JAN-1996/RCHME: Shotwick Castle Survey

(12) Scheduled Monument Notification

29-OCT-1991

(13) Scheduled Monument Notification

16-APR-1999

(14) by Peter Carrington 1993 Shotwick Castle: anatomy of a reconstruction painting

Chester City Council Archaeol Service Newsl

(15) by David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery

Page(s)68

(16) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)833-4

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