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Richards Castle

Richard's Castle
Richard's Castle - geograph.org.uk - 206153.jpg
The B4361 road through the village - the pub is to the right
Richard's Castle is located in Shropshire
Richard's Castle
Richard's Castle
Richard's Castle shown within Shropshire
Population 674 (2011)
Shropshire 424
Herefordshire 250
OS grid reference SO492696
Civil parish
  • Richard's Castle
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LUDLOW
Postcode district SY8
Dialling code 01584
Police West Mercia
Fire Shropshire
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Shropshire
52°19′19″N 2°44′38″W / 52.322°N 2.744°W / 52.322; -2.744Coordinates: 52°19′19″N 2°44′38″W / 52.322°N 2.744°W / 52.322; -2.744

Richard's Castle is a village, castle and two civil parishes on the border of the counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire in England. The Herefordshire section of the parish had a population of 250 at the 2011 Census. The Shropshire section of the parish had a population of 424 at the 2011 Census.

The village lies on the B4361 road, 5 12 miles (8.9 km) south of the historic market town of Ludlow. It is to some degree a dispersed settlement, with an older core near the castle, some 34 mile (1.2 km) to the northwest of the now larger main part of the village which is situated on the B4361. There is a Village Hall and a traditional public house called The Castle Inn, both situated on the B4361.

Today the fortress is reduced mainly to its earthworks and foundations. A polygonal keep stood on the high motte or mound. This was reached possibly via a semi-circular barbican. The bailey wall still stands twenty feet high in places and there are remains of several towers and an early gatehouse around the perimeter. There, earthwork remains of an outer ward enclosing the church (St Bartholomew's) and a borough defence.

Richard Fitz Scrob (or Fitz Scrope) was a Norman knight granted lands by the Saxon King Edward the Confessor before the Norman Conquest, in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire as recorded in the Domesday Book. He built Richard's Castle before 1051. The castle was a motte-and-bailey style construction, one of only three or four castles of this type built before the Norman conquest. Most were built after the conquest. Richard was last mentioned in 1067. His castle passed to his son, Osbern Fitz Richard, who married Nesta, the daughter of King Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Wales.


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