Shotwick Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shotwick Castle | |
|---|---|
| Saughall, Cheshire, England | |
| Type | Castle |
| Built | c 1093 |
| Built by | Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester |
| In use | 11th to 13th century |
| Current condition |
Earthworks only |
Shotwick Castle existed near to the village of Saughall, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ350704).
The castle was built about 1093 by Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester, [1] sited at what is now Shotwick Park and near the River Dee. It was a motte castle enlarged in the 12th and 13th centuries into a hexagonal enclosure of stone walls with a tower inside it. It controlled a ford across the River Dee.[2] Several kings of England, including Henry II and Henry III stayed at the castle during their campaigns against the Welsh, and Edward I visited it in September 1284.[1] The castle was taken over by the Crown in the 13th century and it was in ruins by the 17th century.[3]
In 1876 a local schoolmaster called Williams made a partial excavation of the castle site, finding glazed pottery, a spur and fragments of deer horns.[1] There is little left of the castle today, other than a few earthworks.[2] A survey of the earthworks in the 1990s produced evidence that that castle had been converted into a country house with ornamental gardens in the late medieval period.[3]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Saughall & Shotwick Parish Council: History Retrieved 10 May 2007
- ^ a b Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1980). The David & Charles Book of Castles. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 297. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3.
- ^ a b British Archaeology, no 24, May 1997 Retrieved 28 August 2007
 |
This article about an English castle is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a Cheshire building or structure is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
