A history and description of Richard’s Castle, Herefordshire
- Michael Smith
- Sep 14
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 8
Tucked away in a remote corner of Herefordshire is the small village of Richard’s Castle. Named after its original founder, Richard fitz Scrob, the village is home to one of the few motte and bailey castles to be built in Britain prior to the Norman Conquest. The associated church of St Bartholomew also contains elements from the Norman period.
History of Richard's Castle, Herefordshire
Before the Norman Conquest, the idea of the 'castle' as a building of noble status was largely unknown in Britain. Despite this, Richard’s Castle joins Ewyas Harold and Hereford (both also Herefordshire), and possibly Clavering (Essex), as one of the few such buildings erected in these islands before 1066.
These early castles were raised by lords invited into England by Edward the Confessor, who was himself half-Norman. R. Allen Brown dates the earthworks at Richard’s Castle to before 1051, when it is known that Godwin, Earl of Essex, rose in revolt against increasing Norman influence in the realm.
Notwithstanding, fitz Scrob continued to hold Richard’s castle and, after the Norman Conquest, the castle and its associated township were passed on to his descendants until they eventually fell to the de Mortimers at the turn of the thirteenth century.
At the death of Hugh de Mortimer in 1364 it then passed to the Talbots, who held it until 1380. Richard’s Castle reverted to Crown ownership in 1537, by which time (according to John Leland) the castle’s former grandeur had long since faded.
As Leland wrote, “the keep, the waulls, and towres of yt yet stond but goynge to ruyn … there is a poore house of tymbar in the castle garth for a farmer…”
Today, the old village – the original township – slumbers still in the verdant Herefordshire countryside. The modern village centre has long since migrated down the hill, where the visitor may enjoy a quiet pint in the Castle Inn.
The remains of the motte and bailey at Richard’s Castle
The castle itself is relatively compact, typical of a small early Norman motte and bailey castle in the British Isles. Originally fortified in timber, the castle gained a stone keep and walls in ca. 1175,
The castle is surrounded by a deep ditch and is entered via a simple, single-towered gatehouse with provision for a garderobe. The base of the garderobe shaft can still be seen.
Originally, the bailey wall was probably a simple stone enclosure; a short stretch of the wall which survives shows that it was probably about twenty feet in height.
Excavation has revealed that the wall was pierced by four small open-backed towers (of which three are circular and one square); these were probably added during the thirteenth century. A later dovecote has also been inserted into the wall, close to the wall leading up to the motte.
A fifth tower, the largest in the bailey, is described as the “Chamber Tower” and may have once accommodated residential or administrative rooms for the performance of manorial duties.
Only the foundations remain of the keep which once stood on top of the motte. Nonetheless, these reveal an octagonal plan with the addition of a semi-circular projection towards the bailey which may have housed the chapel. It is thought the keep was of four storeys, including a basement.
Notably, in the manner of Lydford (Devon) or Ascot d'Oilly (Oxfordshire), a large proportion of the keep is buried within the motte and today we enter it at what would have been first floor level. The basement was seemingly back-filled after excavations.
The location of the motte, standing some 30 feet above the bailey itself, is typical of such early structures. Although massively constructed (possibly to avoid subsidence in the manner of Clifford's Tower at York) the keep was not of great size internally; it is possible the keep was constructed as a building intending to convey status.
Certainly, even views from the top of the motte offer impressive vistas of the Herefordshire and Shropshire countryside beyond. If we imagine such a view in reverse, we might see that the keep was clearly intended to impress within the landscape. It would certainly have been an impressive residence within the village itself.
Description of the church of St Bartholomew, Richard’s Castle, Herefordshire
The church of St Bartholomew is remarkable, combining an early Norman nave with later thirteenth/fourteenth century aisles and a detached belfry which looms hauntingly as we approach from below.
The height of the nave and chancel hints at an early date of construction, perhaps the twelfth century and at a similar time as the first stone castle. How the original church may have looked can be glimpsed from the outside where, on the northern side of the church, two round-headed windows can be seen.
The interior contains much to inform us of its former medieval splendour: magnificent arches highlight extensive work undertaken in the fourteenth century; faded wall paintings can be seen on some of the pillars and walls; and medieval glass still survives in the upper parts of some windows.
A primitive font hints at an early church, perhaps earlier than the current building itself. Propped up against one of the walls is a particularly fascinating remnant from the earlier life of the church. Here, next to the font, is an ornate coffin lid featuring a foliated cross which might once have been laid over one of the Fitz Scrob tombs.
As well as some eighteenth and nineteenth century hatchments and memorials, a particular feature of the church is its extensive collection of box pews, including an unusual canopied family pew.
If life in medieval times was unstable, it is perhaps appropriate that the church itself appears to have been constructed on unstable ground.
On the north wall, two huge buttresses have been built to shore it up while inside, two enormous threaded braces were constructed and raised in the seventeenth to stop the south wall of the nave from collapsing. How these were adjusted is unclear; the great spanners needed to turn these beams have long since disappeared.
Description of the village of Richard’s Castle, Herefordshire
Richard’s Castle is a good example of a deserted castle-borough whereby the castle, church and urban settlement were brought together with a simple earthwork bank to create a contiguous whole.
The settlement is laid out on a west-east axis, with the castle at the highest, western, point of the village, some 500 feet above the datum. The church lies in the shadow of the castle and might possibly occupy what may have been an outer bailey.
A small green, formerly a market space, lies below the church to the east, with house plots on either side. It is possible that the whole urban settlement was also contained within one of the castle baileys.
Although the core village is small, this does not imply a small settlement.103 burgesses were associated with the village in 1304; clearly many of these must have been situated beyond the current earthworks.
Richard's Castle today
Today, the castle has been the subject of some consolidation of its ruins while the church is now redundant and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust (the CCT).
The village still contains several timber-framed buildings including the seventeenth century Court House. The entire settlement has a haunting presence, indicative of great age and a deep sense of the past.
J.C. Perks, describing his visit to the village with David Cathcart-King in 1939, wrote, “one’s first visit to Richard’s Castle must always leave a deep impression, but ours was made unforgettable by the atmosphere of the place which made us both very uncomfortable when we were together and, after the first few moments, unwilling to be alone”.
My first visit to this remarkable site, a site of great antiquity when it comes to castle hunting in Britain, left me with precisely the same impression.
Gallery showing the castle and church at Richard's Castle, Herefordshire
Further information
Historic England listing for Richard's Castle motte and bailey, click here
Historic England listing for St Bartholomew's Church, Richard's Castle, click here
Churches Conservation Trust entry for St Bartholomew's Church, Richard's Castle, click here
About the author, Michael Smith
I am a British translator and illustrator of medieval literature. I am also a printmaker, with work in private collections worldwide.
My books, including a translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Alliterative Morte Arthure, are available through all the usual outlets.
My translation of The Romance of William and the Werewolf was published in 2024. All my books feature my own linocut prints as their illustrations.
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