Snodhill Castle, Peterchurch, County of Herefordshire

Summary

The upstanding remains of a polygonal tower built in the mid-to late C12, with possibly earlier wing walls and the west end of the cross wall. Mid-to late C14 drum tower, curtain walls, south-east tower and north tower. C20 and C21 repairs.

Description

Materials: the tower has an external face of flat-bedded coursed stones with chamfered outer faces forming the ground-floor batter. It has a rubble stone core and ashlar dressings. Internally there are squared stone quoins at the changes in angle in the walling.

Plan: originally of two-storeys, the roughly symmetrical polygonal tower had a 12-sided ground floor with a battered plinth, with a taller 10-sided first floor. To the west side was the entrance, which was remodelled in the mid-to late C14 with the addition of a north and south drum tower connected by a two-centred arched entrance. To the north and south sides of the motte are the remains of the wing walls. To the south east of the west bailey is a tower that connects with the remains of the south curtain wall. To the north side of the bailey is the north tower.

Description

Polygonal tower: significant sections of the surviving masonry of the polygonal tower survive to the western and southern sides with more fragmentary remains to the east and the north. The lower sections of the remains to the south, east and north side of the tower relate to a battered 12-sided plinth that rose the full-height of the ground floor. To the south-east corner of the ground floor is a deeply splayed window with a square head and lintel that appears to be original. To the north wall is evidence for a fireplace. Sections of the taller, irregular, 10-sided first-floor walls only survive to the south and west. The eastern jamb of the large south window is in-situ and toward the western end of the upper floor the remains of what was a full-height cross wall projects northwards from the surviving section of the south wall, and indicate a large room at first-floor level, with a smaller ante-room at the west end over the entrance passageway.

The entrance to the tower was at the west end with one bay of the ground floor forming an entrance passage that appears to have run through the thickness of the ground-floor plinth. The quoins and the remains of a door jamb reflect adaptations to the building over time.

The west entrance was modified in the C14 with the addition of two drum towers; that to the north is no longer upstanding. The south drum tower is built up against the earlier wall, and to its north face is the surviving fragment of springing for a two-centred arched head marking the entrance to the tower, with a groove to the east of the opening for a portcullis.

Wing walls: the remains of the rubble stone wing walls to the north and south side of the motte. That to the south is more substantial, and is some 3.5m tall towards the base of the motte.

Curtain walls and south-east tower: the south curtain wall has been built in three phases. The earliest central section, probably late C11/early C12, forms the south end of the cross wall that formed a small defensive enclosure with the wing walls. This section is approximately 5.5m with stone quoins at its west end. The western section is of coursed rubble stone and is up to 4m tall. The eastern section is of fine ashlar blocks and continues to the east to form the base of the south-east tower that projects from the curtain wall and returns to join the south wing wall. Within the remains of the tower is a recess which may have formed a cupboard, and a pyramid stop to the base of the chamfered edge of the south-east window opening.

The only other surviving section of the curtain wall is a small fragment in the north-west corner of the upper bailey. This section is approximately 5.3m long and of core rubble stone.

North tower: The north tower sits about mid-way along the north side of the bailey and survives to a considerable height. It is constructed of squared stone blocks.

History

Snodhill Castle is an example of an C11 motte and bailey castle. Located on a prominent isolated hill to the west of the River Dore, with the land falling steeply away on all sides, it forms part of a chain of similar monuments along the Golden Valley, being part of a wider landscape of power and display, which includes the medieval deer park rising up the valley to the south-west, and the associated earthwork, identified as a possible moated pleasance, to the east.

There is very limited documentary evidence for the historic development of Snodhill Castle, and much is inconclusive, but it has been suggested that the motte and bailey castle was built in the C11 and came into the hands of the Chandos family in the C12. A charter from 1142 refers to Robert of Chandos ‘in his castle of Stradel’ and this is thought to be the earliest known direct documentary reference to the castle. It was in the mid-to late C12, during the ownership of the Chandos family that the tower was rebuilt in stone. Robert of Chandos had been the Governor of Gisors Castle in France in 1123 and it is possible that this castle, that had a multi-angular form, had an influence on the polygonal form of the rebuilt tower at Snodhill. The wing walls may be earlier and contemporary with the stone wall that ran north to south across the eastern end of the west bailey to form a small defended enclosure.

In the C14 the castle experienced a period of decline, and on the death of Roger of Chandos in 1353 the Inquisition Post Mortem noted his possession of the manor of ‘Snodhull’ including a ‘castle in ruins’. Reference to the castle in 1375, following the death of this son, Thomas, includes the first reference to a park as a distinct entity. The modifications to the west entrance are believed to have been done during Thomas’ ownership. After Thomas’ death the estate was held by Sir John Chandos and in 1403 he was ordered to fortify the castle of ‘Snowdoun’ against the Welsh, led by Owain Glyn Dwr, which indicates that the castle was in a good enough state of repair to be rendered defensible and usable at this time.

Following Sir John Chandos’ death in 1428 the castle passed to the Beauchamp family and was briefly held by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, in right of his wife Anne Beauchamp, who later gave it to King Henry VII. It remained in royal hands until Queen Elizabeth I granted it to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. It was said to have been bombarded by Scottish troops in the Civil War but there is no documentary or archaeological evidence to support this.

By the C17 the castle was in the ownership of the Vaughan family but in the mid-C17 it was sold, ending up in the hands of the Prosser family who owned the site, along with Snodhill Court, until the early C20. It had various owners in the following years and in 2016 the castle came into the care of the Snodhill Castle Preservation Trust.

Reasons for Listing

The upstanding remains of Snodhill Castle are listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* for its illustration of the medieval architectural developments in castle building from the C12 to the C14;
* as one of the earliest known examples of a tower keep with a polygonal plan form it contributes to our understanding of the national sequence of developments in castle building;
* for the quality of the craftsmanship as exhibited in surviving features such as the window details and fine ashlar work.

Historic interest:

* the tower keep, built in the mid-to late C12, is one of about 100 known examples in England, and one of the few to have been constructed on the site of an existing earthwork castle, in this case an C11 motte and bailey castle;
* for its part in broader interpretations of castles as places of pleasure and entertainment as part of a wider landscape of display;
* for its contribution to our understanding of the organisation of society in medieval England.

External Links

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