The community excavation at Ruardean Castle
Introduction
It isn’t often that you get a chance to excavate the site of a medieval castle, or to be more accurate in this case a fortified manor house, but our Buried Heritage volunteers were lucky enough to get such an opportunity for our 2018 community excavation.
The site at Ruardean has little to show what once stood in the field behind the Church of St John the Baptist and looking over a wonderful view across the Welsh Marches towards the hills in the distance. However, with the permission of Historic England we were able to investigate this scheduled ancient monument to find out a little more about it.
Our project
In the field, all that remains of the fortified manor are the slight remains of a tower, some humps and bumps and a slight hollow-way (a well-worn path) running from these towards the church. Understanding of the site prior to our project was based on interpretation of these earthworks and the remains of the tower. Some limited documentary evidence was also available including a map dated from 1608 showing the ‘castle’ and also a record that in 1311 Alexander of Bicknor was granted ‘by Royal Licence his mansion at Ruardyn, built of stone and lime, to strengthen and crenellate‘.
Our work aimed to find out more about the date and layout of the site. Initially we undertook some geophysical survey, the results of which combined with the 1608 map and previous studies of the earthworks indicated that the fortified manor had an inner and outer ward, with the remains of the stone tower surviving at the western corner of this inner ward. A large irregular mounded area to the south-east was thought to represent the remains of a gatehouse or entrance building(s). From this entrance the hollow-way runs towards the church suggesting a strong link between the two sites.
Our geophysical survey revealed a possible double ditch running around the north-eastern side of the gatehouse structure and a series of anomalies suggesting the presence of a building in the centre of the inner ward. Following this, four trenches and two test pits were excavated targeting the tower, earthwork features and geophysical anomalies. These were the first modern and documented archaeological excavations to have ever been carried out at the site.
Results
After we removed the grass and thin soil all that was revealed at first in three of our trenches was a mass of incoherent rubble but as we cleared the loose rubble away, well-preserved walls gradually emerged.
In Trench 1, these walls were especially large and here they are thought to represent a ‘curtain’ wall, part of which is also visible attached to the remains of the tower. This wall appears to run aroudnt eh outside of a large square inner ward. The size of the walls provided an indication of how substantial the fortified manor must have been – suggesting that it probably stood two or more stories high with the tower located on one corner. Trench 2 identified more well-built and large walls within the inner ward whilst in Trench 3 we explored the remains of one side of the gatehouse, again finding well-constructed stone walls and a doorway into a room which would have flanked the entrance. Trench 4 confirmed the presence of the ditch identified through the geophysical survey and this ran around the outside of the gatehouse area and defined an outer ward.
Numerous artefacts were found in the trenches including large quantities of pottery and roof tile. Amongst the pottery there were examples that showed that the occupants of the site were relatively wealthy. Some of the roof tile was glazed – another sign of a high-status residence. Important other finds included a rare example of a chess piece and a finely made key, probably for a lockable chest to keep valuable possessions in. Together these provided further indications of the wealth and status of the inhabitants.
Conclusions
On the basis of the evidence recovered we can suggest the following:
- Early finds indicate that the castle was probably founded in the 12th century – at this time it was probably a simple motte (earth mound) or ring work with a timber tower.
- The basic layout of the late 13th and 14th century fortified manor is probably probably accurately reflected in the 1608 map – with a strongly built inner ward with tower on its west corner and a gatehouse facing the village from which a hollow-way ran to the church.
- Outside the gatehouse was an outer ward defined by a ditch.
- The finds assemblage suggests that the site was abandoned in the 17th century – perhaps around the time that the map was drawn.
…and finally
After the fieldwork was completed, further funding was secured from the Foresters’ Forest Project to enable an interpretation panel to be produced and placed at the edge of the churchyard and overlooking the site. This has at its centre a reconstruction by artist Phil Kenning of what we think the fortified manor may have looked like.
This is based on the evidence from the surveys of the site and from our excavation trenches. It is of course highly conjectural, as we still have only very limited evidence for the fortified manor, but we have drawn on the evidence from contemporary fortified manors in the region of which some have more extensive remains still standing such as that at Acton Burnell in Shropshire:
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/acton-burnell-castle/.
The reconstruction of the fortified manor is accompanied by a vignette showing a lord and lady playing chess in the oriel window of the tower. If you get a chance please go and visit the site, have a look at the interpretation panel and take in the stupendous view of the Welsh Marches and hills in the distance.