Scheduled MonumentsEnglandShoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)

Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)

England
List entry 1003884
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1003884
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
3.98 hectares
Grid reference
SS 70548 39093
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Shoulsbarrow Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey fortification located in Devon, England. The site consists of a substantial earthwork mound with surrounding defensive ditches, characteristic of early Norman castle construction in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The castle represents an important example of the rapid fortification of the English landscape following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when such structures were established to consolidate Norman authority in newly conquered territories. Though now ruinous and reduced to earthwork remains, the monument preserves significant archaeological evidence of medieval defensive architecture and settlement patterns in the South West.

Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury) is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1003884. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)?

Shoulsbarrow Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey fortification located in Devon, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1003884.

Who is responsible for protecting Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)?

Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury) is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1003884.

What other scheduled monuments are near Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Round barrow 100yds (90m) NE of Five Cross Way (1.6 km), Four round barrows on Muxworthy Ridge (2.5 km), Stone row N of Five Barrows Hill (3.1 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)'s history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury)

Shoulsbarrow Castle (Shaulsbury) stands on Upper Devonian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.