It was at this place that I slipped in the mud, and tore my jacket. As one person said to me "there's not much to show for that". I disagree.
First, the plans. entry to the site was about half-way down the left hand side of the plan. From there, no stonework was visible.
Full Version: Snodhill Castle
A view of the entrance-way up to the motte. It was at this point that I slipped in the mud, although you can't see it. 
A climb up to the right-hand side of the tower produced a better picture of the tower's stonework, and shows greater detail.
I then clambered round the right-hand side of the ruined tower, over a low wall and into the keep itself. It was here that I tore my jacket on a large thorn whilst avoiding climbing over the barbed wire.
The pictures below are of the remains as seen from the inside of the keep. (ok - so a few broken down walls
)
The pictures below are of the remains as seen from the inside of the keep. (ok - so a few broken down walls
)
I'm with you, the pictures were worth the hassle of the climb.
I can look at the images and analyze them for hours. Just a few rocks can tell so much about a place its truly amazing.
Thanks
I can look at the images and analyze them for hours. Just a few rocks can tell so much about a place its truly amazing.
Thanks
An interesting website.
http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/castle...az/snodhill.htm
Snodhill Castle, Peterchurch.
SMR NO. 1557 GRID REF: SO 3220 4030
In the Golden Valley between Dorstone and Peterchurch and just east of the hamlet of Snodhill and about 1 ¾ miles NW of the Norman church lie the earthwork and buried remains of a shell keep castle occupying a spur of high ground. The earthworks cover an area of c4 hectares.
Description of the site today.
The site includes the remains of a motte and bailey with an earthen mound roughly oval, with a maximum diameter of 35m. The motte is steep sided and c3.5m high and defended to the east by a c20m stretch of dry ditch 5m wide and 2m deep.
A path on the west side leads to the shell keep and was probably the original access to the motte tower.
The bailey is oblong in shape and lies just to the western side of the motte. It measures roughly 25m east to west by 18m North to South. The bailey is surrounded to the south, west and north by a level terrace roughly 10m wide.
A stone curtain wall surrounded the bailey and the whole circuit of this can be traced. On the South the remains are most obvious, the eastern section includes a semi-circular tower which was rebuilt C14-C15. A round tower on the north side contained octagonal rooms and could have been associated with a hall block. There were probably at least two other towers around the circuit as well as an entrance gateway to the SW.
Approximately 1/3 of the way down the north side of the slope are a series of rectilinear fishponds lying east to west and terraced into the hillside. There are three ponds contained by an earthen bank up to 1.5m high. They measure roughly 25m x 8m, 30m x 10m and 35m x 10m.
The stone keep on top of the motte, is an irregular elongated polygon with internal measurements of 7m x 11.5m. It contained a basement with walls 2m thick. The surviving walls of the keep narrow to become 1m thick, and the building appears to have had 10 sides.
There is no ditch between the motte and the bailey.
History of the castle and site.
1127: Robert de Chandos built this castle after acquiring land by an exchange with Great Malvern Priory. Snodhill Castle was also known as castle of Straddle, perhaps in reference to its position on a spur of ground.
1196: The castle is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls, most probably it was refortified in stone around this time.
c1355: Roger de Chandos died and the castle was surveyed and found to be ruinous.
1403: King Henry IV orders Sir John de Chandos to refortify the castle against possible raids by Owain Glyn Dwr.
1428: Snodhill passes to Gile de Bruges.
1436: Roger de la Mere, sheriff of Herefordshire, holds the castle. It later passed to the Nevilles.
Elizabeth I granted Snodhill to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and the estate later passed to the Vaughans.
1665: The Vaughans sold the castle to William Prosser of London who built or rebuilt Snodhill Court. He used material from the castle after it had been wrecked by a bombardment by an army under the Earl of Leven.
There is good reason to believe that the castle was built before the close of the 12th century, as judging by the remains, the keep tower is of Norman construction.
http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/castle...az/snodhill.htm
Snodhill Castle, Peterchurch.
SMR NO. 1557 GRID REF: SO 3220 4030
In the Golden Valley between Dorstone and Peterchurch and just east of the hamlet of Snodhill and about 1 ¾ miles NW of the Norman church lie the earthwork and buried remains of a shell keep castle occupying a spur of high ground. The earthworks cover an area of c4 hectares.
Description of the site today.
The site includes the remains of a motte and bailey with an earthen mound roughly oval, with a maximum diameter of 35m. The motte is steep sided and c3.5m high and defended to the east by a c20m stretch of dry ditch 5m wide and 2m deep.
A path on the west side leads to the shell keep and was probably the original access to the motte tower.
The bailey is oblong in shape and lies just to the western side of the motte. It measures roughly 25m east to west by 18m North to South. The bailey is surrounded to the south, west and north by a level terrace roughly 10m wide.
A stone curtain wall surrounded the bailey and the whole circuit of this can be traced. On the South the remains are most obvious, the eastern section includes a semi-circular tower which was rebuilt C14-C15. A round tower on the north side contained octagonal rooms and could have been associated with a hall block. There were probably at least two other towers around the circuit as well as an entrance gateway to the SW.
Approximately 1/3 of the way down the north side of the slope are a series of rectilinear fishponds lying east to west and terraced into the hillside. There are three ponds contained by an earthen bank up to 1.5m high. They measure roughly 25m x 8m, 30m x 10m and 35m x 10m.
The stone keep on top of the motte, is an irregular elongated polygon with internal measurements of 7m x 11.5m. It contained a basement with walls 2m thick. The surviving walls of the keep narrow to become 1m thick, and the building appears to have had 10 sides.
There is no ditch between the motte and the bailey.
History of the castle and site.
1127: Robert de Chandos built this castle after acquiring land by an exchange with Great Malvern Priory. Snodhill Castle was also known as castle of Straddle, perhaps in reference to its position on a spur of ground.
1196: The castle is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls, most probably it was refortified in stone around this time.
c1355: Roger de Chandos died and the castle was surveyed and found to be ruinous.
1403: King Henry IV orders Sir John de Chandos to refortify the castle against possible raids by Owain Glyn Dwr.
1428: Snodhill passes to Gile de Bruges.
1436: Roger de la Mere, sheriff of Herefordshire, holds the castle. It later passed to the Nevilles.
Elizabeth I granted Snodhill to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and the estate later passed to the Vaughans.
1665: The Vaughans sold the castle to William Prosser of London who built or rebuilt Snodhill Court. He used material from the castle after it had been wrecked by a bombardment by an army under the Earl of Leven.
There is good reason to believe that the castle was built before the close of the 12th century, as judging by the remains, the keep tower is of Norman construction.
From the Independent, 9th July 2008
Crumbling English landmarks are left 'in peril'
Neglectful owners of historic landmarks risk being named and shamed by English Heritage, which has placed one fifth of all the nation's monuments and battlefields on a register of threatened structures and warned that they are in danger of being lost.
The country's steward of significant historical and archaeological sites has put 1,680 sites on its annual "at risk" register – a rise since last year of 87 grade I and II listed buildings, eight battlefields, and 10 underwater wrecks. About one in every 14 parks, gardens and landscapes is also threatened. Overall, this amounts to one in 12 heritage sites across the nation classed as "high risk", in need of urgent preservation, with £400m needed to save them.
For the first time, the organisation has created a map that ranks local authorities in order of the highest quantity of monuments at risk. In all, 27 authorities, including councils in Birmingham, Gateshead, Rotherham, Leeds and Coventry, have monuments that are listed in the "high risk" category. They include the crumbling grade II-listed Battersea Power Station, a doorless listed telephone box in Whitechapel, east London, a vacant housing estate in Newcastle and battlefields of extraordinary importance – including a Civil War site in Newbury, Berkshire – which are owned by local authorities that are under pressure to use the space for "new build" housing developments.
English Heritage, which released its Heritage at Risk Register yesterday, said owners of homes and monuments that were of national importance and were woefully neglectful could have their identities exposed in the register next year, if the situation is not improved. The heritage body, which is attempting to compile a comprehensive database of sites at risk, which has been called a Doomsday Book, said some of these owners had been hostile to the idea of preserving important sites even when offered money for the task.
Simon Thurley, the chief executive of English Heritage, said this wilful neglect and hostility only occurred in a minority of cases. "The first purpose of this register is to spur people into action. There are some who are irresponsible, but they are a very small proportion," he said.
One such example, he said, was the crumbling, overgrown remains of Snodhill Castle, in Herefordshire, dating from the 13th century, which he said, was owned by a group of people and "will not be there in 20 years time if they carry on like they are doing".
Mr. Thurley said it was a "scandal" that half of the 572 listed buildings that were at risk in London were currently standing empty. He said he was heartened by the £60m pledge by London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, to transform these neglected structures into homes for Londoners.
Crumbling English landmarks are left 'in peril'
Neglectful owners of historic landmarks risk being named and shamed by English Heritage, which has placed one fifth of all the nation's monuments and battlefields on a register of threatened structures and warned that they are in danger of being lost.
The country's steward of significant historical and archaeological sites has put 1,680 sites on its annual "at risk" register – a rise since last year of 87 grade I and II listed buildings, eight battlefields, and 10 underwater wrecks. About one in every 14 parks, gardens and landscapes is also threatened. Overall, this amounts to one in 12 heritage sites across the nation classed as "high risk", in need of urgent preservation, with £400m needed to save them.
For the first time, the organisation has created a map that ranks local authorities in order of the highest quantity of monuments at risk. In all, 27 authorities, including councils in Birmingham, Gateshead, Rotherham, Leeds and Coventry, have monuments that are listed in the "high risk" category. They include the crumbling grade II-listed Battersea Power Station, a doorless listed telephone box in Whitechapel, east London, a vacant housing estate in Newcastle and battlefields of extraordinary importance – including a Civil War site in Newbury, Berkshire – which are owned by local authorities that are under pressure to use the space for "new build" housing developments.
English Heritage, which released its Heritage at Risk Register yesterday, said owners of homes and monuments that were of national importance and were woefully neglectful could have their identities exposed in the register next year, if the situation is not improved. The heritage body, which is attempting to compile a comprehensive database of sites at risk, which has been called a Doomsday Book, said some of these owners had been hostile to the idea of preserving important sites even when offered money for the task.
Simon Thurley, the chief executive of English Heritage, said this wilful neglect and hostility only occurred in a minority of cases. "The first purpose of this register is to spur people into action. There are some who are irresponsible, but they are a very small proportion," he said.
One such example, he said, was the crumbling, overgrown remains of Snodhill Castle, in Herefordshire, dating from the 13th century, which he said, was owned by a group of people and "will not be there in 20 years time if they carry on like they are doing".
Mr. Thurley said it was a "scandal" that half of the 572 listed buildings that were at risk in London were currently standing empty. He said he was heartened by the £60m pledge by London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, to transform these neglected structures into homes for Londoners.
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