Monument record 2025/1/1 - Shotwick Castle Motte and Bailey and Late Medieval Garden Remains

<1> Stewart-Brown R., 1912, The Royal Manor and Park of Shotwick (Article in Journal). SCH7951.

The township of Shotwick Park was created from the Royal manor of Castle Shotwick

Shotwick Castle was presumably intended to command an important ford over the River Dee. It probably dates to the eleventh century and may have been built by Hugh Lupus (earl of Chester) built castle before he granted Church Shotwick to the monks of St Werburgh in 1093. The castle may have passed to the crown when Henry III took possession of the earldom in 1237 and is documented as a royal possession in 1241. From the 1280s custody of the castle and the demense surrounding it appears to have been treated as a mark of royal favour, rather than a post of military importance. In 1327 the manor was enclosed as a park. The castle is in ruins by 1594 and is described in 1789 as "The castle was a pentagon of fifty-one feet on each side. The watch tower five story high." (see 3 & 12). In 1876 the schoolmaster of Saughall excavated on the site of the castle. The foundations were uncovered at a depth of about seven feet. A pebbled roadway leading from the courtyard and a watercourse were also revealed. The bricks were small and thin, and not of the local clay.

<2> Colvin H.M. (ed), 1963-1982, The History of the King's Works, vol.III, p.833-4 (Book). SCH3161.

The castle was in the the King's possession in 1237. The buildings were repaired, palisades re-erected and the bridge re-built at his expense in 1240-2 and 1247. Royal visitors included Edward I in 1278 and the Black Prince in 1353.

<3> Holme, R, 1660-1688, The ground plot of Shotwick Castle before it was ruinated, and a view of the ruines of the castle of Shotwick, on the west side (Book). SCH1333.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ37SW6 (Index). SCH2487.

Includes an annotated 25 inch to 1 mile survey made c.1960.

<5> Sulley, P, 1889, The Hundred of Wirral, p.114-116 (Book). SCH3174.

<6> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, vol.II p.571 (Book). SCH1389.

<7> Williams C & McKinder R, 1984, Plan, Shotwick Castle and Hall - Microfilm (Graphic Material). SCH2647.

<8> Broster P, 1810, Letter in the Earwaker Collection Chester City Record Office, CR/3/2/133 (Book). SCH1910.

Prince Edward gave custody of Chester, Beeston & Shotwick Castles to Fulke de Orreby, Justiciar of Chester c.1260. Until 1281 the castle was used in wars against the Welsh. In 1281 peace was made and the castle decayed. From that time on, custody of the Castle was treated as a mark of royal favour rather than a post of military importance. In 1278, Roger le Strange received a grant of manor for life. Survey showed land in demesne valued at 4 pounds 10s. Pannage, fallen wood & grazing took total value of manor to 18 pounds 16s 10d. A manuscript letter and sketch describes the demolition of the last parts of the Castle in 1756, the stone being used to revet Blacon Point against the tide. At that time all that remained were the lower parts of two round towers and the entrance from the sea to the castle

<9> Cambridge University, Various, Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography (CUCAP), GI7 & AGX82 1951 (Aerial Photograph). SCH7942.

<10> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), 13452 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

The monument at Shotwick includes a medieval motte and bailey castle on the crest of a steep escarpment above the east bank of the former course of the River Dee. Its defensive position is enhanced by two steep sided watercourses flanking it on the north and south sides. The motte itself is a small mound, hexagonal in plan and 40m by 20m at the top. From limited excavation in the last century there appears to be the foundations of the stone keep surviving to a depth of 2.3m under the turf. The motte ditch surrounds the motte and is about 25m wide and 3m deep. This would have been flooded at high tide. To the south east is a small bailey 38m wide at the top, which reveals that it was remodelled as a part of a formal garden scheme after its function as a defensive work had ceased. The castle was built by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, during the 11th century. Under various owners the castle formed part of the defence of the borders with the Welsh until 1281 when peace was finally made with the rulers of Wales. In 1327 the manor was emparked as a royal game park for the recreation of Edward III. The manor was occupied under a series of owners acting as magistrates for the Crown until the estate was aquired by the Wilbraham family in 1627. At this time the castle appears to have been in ruins. At some date within the late medieval period the north western part of the site was formed into a series of water garden features and the bailey was sculpted into a formal garden with terraces and parterres. The moat may have been widened at the same time to make a further water feature for this garden scheme. It was this western side of the moat which used to be regarded as a quay and harbour for access to the castle from the estuary of the River Dee. Further survey work by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England has confirmed that the surroundings of the castle are indeed a garden. A wide ditch cuts off the castle from its surrounding landscape on the eastern side. This is 35m wide and 2.5m deep. The stream valley on the north west of the site was considerably altered in the medieval period to form a water feature, including three pools with walkways created over a series of dams and on a spinal bank separating the water features from the moat along the north western edge of the site. Ridge and furrow cultivation can be traced over all of the monument, including the bottom of the moat. This has obscured much of the detail of the earthworks.

<11> Gough R, 1789, Camden's Britannia (Gough), p.434 (Book). SCH508.

<12> Gifford and Partners, 1992, Shotwick Park Estate: Archaeological Audit (Client Report). SCH4215.

Archaeological assessment of Shotwick Park Estate, including Shotwick Castle, undertaken in 1992. Discussion includes possible existence of a quay in association with the castle, evidence of which is that Henry II set sail from here on an expedition to Ireland in the 12th century, also in 1357/8 a shipment of slates were brought by ship from Ogwen, Wales to Shotwick Park where they were transferred to smaller craft or onto carts for transfer to Chester. A new quay is said to have been built in the 15th century and this was later superceded by the New Quay at Great Neston. It is suggested that the outer castle ditch on the west side is unusually wide and could have functioned as a dry dock, a notion which is supported by the plan of the castle itself which had an entrance flanked by two round towers facing out onto this area. There are also references to fisheries and at least one 'floddeyord' in Shotwick manor, some which may have lain close to the castle.

Following field survey and re-evaluation of the castle by the RCHME in 1996 the interpretation of certain earthworks as a quay/dry dock has been superceded, with a view that these instead represent garden features.

<13> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1996, Shotwick Castle, Cheshire. Archaeological Survey Report (Report). SCH7709.

The earthwork remains of the motte and bailey castle of Shotwick. This former royal castle, dating to the early medieval period, is situated on the crest of a steep escarpment (that was, at that time, the shore of the Dee estuary) at the apex of a promontory formed by two streams that drain into the reclaimed floodplain. The surviving earthworks comprise a steep-sided earthen motte separated from a kidney-shaped bailey by a deep crescential ditch 25m wide and 3m in depth. Both motte and bailey were isolated from the ground to the east by a second large ditch around the outer edge of the bailey. This ditch is 15m wide and 2.2m deep at the north end, increasing to a maximum width of 29m and 3.8m in depth towards the southern end. The ditch around the north-west of the castle has subsequently been widened out to form part of a series of ornamental ponds.

The motte, measuring 40m north-south and 20m east-west, is an irregular hexagon in shape and displays a general corrolation with the shape of the castle shown in an early plan (reproduced in Stewart-Brown, 1912, 128). The surface of the motte is uneven, though it is not possible to attribute these irregularities to any particular feature shown on the plan. A shallow L-shaped ditch in the north-east corner may indicate the position of a trench from Williams' 19th-century excavations. The motte has also been disturbed by treasure hunters.

The bailey is a maximum width of 38m at the north end tapering to a point at the south end, and some 80m north-south. Its interior is covered in a pattern of slight but regular scarps which are best understood as part of a formal garden associated with a later phase of the site.

The bailey and parts of the ditch have been over-ploughed by narrow ridge-and-furrow. The site is currently under pasture.

<14> Cheshire Historic Environment Record, 1989, Jill Collens' Aerial Photographs, 6.0559-6.0561, 6.0566-7 (Aerial Photograph). SCH9711.