Old Castle Twt was a castle in the village of Almeley, Herefordshire.
The castle was probably built during the civil war years of the Anarchy, and took the form of a motte and bailey fortification, positing between two streams. The motte would originally have been over 5.4 m high, protected by a bank and ditch 10 m wide and 2 m deep. The bailey to the north was 40 m by 30 m, protected by a rampart up to 4.5 m high and a ditch 12 m wide on the north side, with a gatehouse in the middle. The castle’s hall was on the east side of the bailey.
The fate of the site is unknown, although it may have been slighted – put beyond military use – after the 1140s. It may have been replaced by nearby Almeley Castle. A cottage was constructed, probably on the site of the old gatehouse, around the 18th-19th century century. In the 21st century, the site is protected under UK law as a Scheduled Monument.
Bibliography
- Skelton, Rosamund and Roger Stirling-Brown (1995) “Investigations in the Weobley Area,” Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol. 64 pp.23-34.