Upper Slaughter Castle was an earthwork castle, built in the village in Gloucestershire, probably in the late-11th or early 12th century.
History
The castle was a motte-and-bailey design, occupying a promontory behind the village of Upper Slaughter. The River Eye provided protection on the north, and a moat lay to the east. The motte was made by scarping the promontory, and today is 2.7 m high, approximately square, and 22 m across. It contained a well, and at least one building. It was originally protected by a ditch, 8 m wide and up to 4 m deep. The bailey stretched away to the north-west of the motte, running down toward the river.
It may have been built after the Norman invasion of England in 1066, when the manor was held by Roger de Lacy. If so, its position alongside the pre-existing village church would have been deliberate. Alternatively, the castle may date from the civil war known as the Anarchy in the early 1140s. Records suggest that around this time the village church was fortified to form part of the castle’s defences, leading to furious complaints from Gilbert Foliot, the Abbot of Gloucester.
The castle does not appear to have been used much beyond the 12th century, and was abandoned. The development of the farm complex that now surrounds the castle caused some damage. The west and south sides of the motte were largely flattened, and much of the western side of the bailey was destroyed. Mr Witts, an antiquarian, carried out some investigatory digging of the motte in 1877, uncovering the well shaft, and a short archaeological survey of the moat was carried out in 1989. The castle is now protected under UK law as a Scheduled Monument and as a Grade II* listed building.
Bibliography
- Anonymous. (1895-7) “Transactions at the Annual Summer Meeting At Stow-On-The-Wold’,”Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volume 20, pp. 326-371.
- Walker, D. (1991) “Gloucestershire Castles,” Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volume 109, pp. 5-23.
- Wills, J. (1990) “Archaeological Review No 14, 1989,” Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volume 108 pp. 139-199.
Attribution
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