Shotwick Castle

Shotwick Castle
Shotwick Park, Cheshire, England
Earthworks of Shotwick Castle
Type	Motte-and-bailey
Site information
Owner	The Crown
Controlled by	Cheshire West and Chester
Open to the public	Free access
Condition	Earthworks only
Site history
Built	c.1093
Built by	Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester
In use	11th to 14th century
Materials	Stone Timber Earth
Demolished	17th century
Battles/wars	None
Events	Welsh Wars

Shotwick Castle is a Norman medieval fortification near the village of Saughall, Cheshire, England. Construction began in the late 11th century. Its purpose was to control a crossing point on the River Dee between England and Wales. The site is a scheduled monument. No masonry features remain above ground except for earthworks.

Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester, had a castle constructed at Shotwick about 1093. It was sited atop a promontory that had steep-sided river banks formed from two watercourses that flowed – at this point – into the River Dee. The castle had an earthen hexagonal motte with an outer bailey. It also had two large defensive ditches (25 metres (82 ft) wide and 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep) that became flooded at high tide. The castle's main purpose was to control movements across a tidal ford that once existed at this point on the original course of the river. (In the 18th century the River Dee was diverted to the south along a man-made canalised section.)

The Earls of Chester, such as Ranulf de Blondeville, had paid for the upkeep of the defences during the 12th and early 13th centuries. Both Henry II and Henry III stayed at the castle during their campaigns against the Welsh. In 1237 Shotwick was one of several castles belonging to the Earldom of Chester that were acquired by The Crown following the death of John, 7th Earl of Chester. As the Anglo-Scottish magnate died childless, his sisters were obliged to cede some of his estates and properties to Henry III.