More information : (SJ 46902357) Moat (NR)
(SJ 46882355) Castle (NR) (Remains of) (NAT) (1-2)
In 1308, John le Strange had licence from Edward II 'to make a castle of his house at Mudle'. It was a rectangular structure, two storeys high, with a square court inside, and surrounded by a moat which can still be traced to the east of the castle. The moat
enclosed about half an acre of ground, the entrance to which was by a gatehouse standing near the north-east corner. Leland, who saw the castle in 1538-39 described it then as 'veri ruinus' Auden mentions a park at Myddle, in the direction of Harmer Hill
(SJ 489224). (Myddle Park Wood is published on OS 6" at SJ 467226). Only a staircase-turret of red sandstone, a portion of an outer wall, and the moat remain. Grade II. (3-6)
See revised survey. (7-8)
The park was already in existence by 1333. The boundaries can still be clearly seen. The castle stood at its northerly edge, a lane and the Baschurch parish boundary demarcate it on the west, and the Hollins and Webscott farms adjoin it to the south. It was once well wooded, but was largely turned over to pasture by the middle of the 17th century. (9-10)
The remains of this fortified manor house are very scant, the
principal survival being a fragment of stair turret measuring 4.0m by 4.0m, and 4.0-5.0m in height but it is in a ruinous condition. The fragment of outer wall on the east side has been destroyed or concealed by the recent construction of a silage pit but on the
south it still serves as a retaining wall 16.5m in length. Nothing
remains of the moat except at the south-west corner where there are traces 20.0m in length, and 6.0m in width.
The boundaries of the park are followed on the west by a lane with normal hedge banks, and a hedge continues the line on the south and east, but no pale could be recognised. The course is no longer apparent on the north and north-east.
Published survey (1:2500) revised on MSD (11)
SJ 468 235. Myddle Castle. Scheduled. (12)
SJ 46872355. The standing and earthwork remains of Myddle Castle, a quadrangular castle surrounded by a moat. The moat has been drained and infilled but the 1881 OS map shows that all 4 arms were once waterfilled and enclosed an island measuring approximately 42 metres by 48 metres. Writing in the 18th century, Richard Gough described Myddle Castle as a series of 'rooms' arranged around a courtyard with a gatehouse in the north east corner. He refers to a possible kitchen range on the east side, a parlour to the south and a hall to the west. The 1881 map shows the standing walls joining the foundations of further walls and indicates that the castle building measured around 32 metres by 42 metres. An excavation undertaken in 1966 confirmed the extent of the structure and concluded that the main living quarters lay on the western and northern sides of the moated island. The stair turret, which survives as the most prominent feature on the island, was restored in 1849 and 1982. Scheduled and listed. (13)
Listed by Cathcart King. (14)
|