Almeley Castle was a fortification in the village of Almeley, Herefordshire, probably built in the late 12th century.
There had been a previous castle near the village of Almeley, Old Town Twt Castle, probably constructed during the civil war of the 1140s, but it appears to have been abandoned after the conflict. Almeley Castle was probably built in the late 12th century, and was first recorded in 1216. During the 14th century, it was used by the Oldcastle family, until the execution of Sir John Oldcastle in 1417, when it was taken by the Crown.
The castle was a motte and bailey design, with the motte 35 m in diameter and 8 m high, protected by a ditch up to 8 m wide and 2.5 deep. The square bailey was 50 m across, with a ditch 12 m across and 2 m deep, and was entered from the east side. To the south-west of the castle were its two fishponds, one 42 m by 20 m and the other 50m by 18m.
The fate of the castle is unclear, although records suggest that the remains of the keep could still be seen in the 17th century, but by the 19th century was occupied by a farm. In the 21st century, the site is protected under UK law as a Schedule Monument.
Bibliography
- Robinson, C.J. (1869) The Castles of Herefordshire and Their Lords. London: Longman.
- Skelton, Rosamund and Roger Stirling-Brown (1995) “Investigations in the Weobley Area,” Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 64 pp.23-34.
Attribution
This article uses images from the Geograph website, including Almeley Castle, by Philip Pankhurst, released under CC BY-SA 2.0.