CPAT Report No. 1554 Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Archaeological Investigation YMDDIRIEDOLAETH ARCHAEOLEGOL CLWYD-POWYS CLWYD-POWYS ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST Client name: Cadw CPAT Project No: 2268 Project Name: Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Grid Reference: SO 22116 96636 County/LPA: Powys Planning Application: N/A CPAT Report No: 1554 Event PRN: 140220 Report status: Final Confidential until: N/A Prepared by: Checked by: Approved by: Richard Hankinson Paul Belford Paul Belford Senior Archaeologist Director Director 25/01/2018 29/01/2018 29/01/2018 Bibliographic reference: Hankinson, R., 2018. Old Castle Farm, Montgomery: Archaeological Investigation, Unpublished CPAT Report No 1554. YMDDIRIEDOLAETH ARCHAEOLEGOL CLWYD-POWYS CLWYD-POWYS ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST 41 Broad Street, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 7RR, United Kingdom +44 (0) 1938 553 670 [email protected] www.cpat.org.uk ©CPAT 2017 The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust is a Registered Organisation with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists CPAT Report No 1554 Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Archaeological Investigation CONTENTS Contents SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................................... ii 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................... 2 3 EXCAVATION ......................................................................................................................................... 5 4 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 9 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... 9 6 SOURCES ............................................................................................................................................... 9 7 ARCHIVE DEPOSITION STATEMENT ..................................................................................................... 10 i CPAT Report No 1554 Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Archaeological Investigation Summary The Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) conducted an excavation in the farmyard of Old Castle Farm, Montgomery in January 2018, with financial support from Cadw. A hole had opened up in the farmyard over the Christmas period at the end of 2017 and examination of the void by CPAT staff and Cadw’s Regional Inspector suggested that this may have been related to subsidence of elements of the defences of Montgomery Castle, whose construction by Henry III commenced in 1223. After inspection, Cadw determined that an excavation was necessary to identify the reason for the appearance of the hole, although this lay just outside the scheduled area of the castle. This was conducted from 18-19 January 2018 and it revealed traces of a rock-cut well, at least 5m deep and about 1m in diameter, that was thought to have been the main cause for the subsidence; this could not be attributed to a particular period but seems likely to post-date the slighting of the castle by order of Parliament in 1649. Part of a ditch was also observed in the excavation and three distinct fills were identified, though no readily datable material was found that could place these into the chronology of the castle defences. It seemed clear, however, that the ditch formed part of the palisaded outworks of the castle, perhaps dating from the early years of its construction. ii CPAT Report No 1554 Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Archaeological Investigation 1 Introduction 1.1. The following report details an archaeological investigation that was undertaken at Old Castle Farm, Montgomery in January 2018, in response to the appearance of a hole which had opened up in the farmyard. The farm is owned by Powis Estates and tenanted. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2018 Fig. 1: Location of the excavation 1.2. The hole had appeared over the Christmas period at the end of 2017, and the tenant promptly informed Cadw as he was aware that it lay in close proximity to the scheduled area of Montgomery Castle (SAM MG022). Cadw requested that the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) visit the farm and attempt to determine the nature of the hole and the reasons for its formation. The site visit took place on 2 January 2018, when it was determined that the void below the farmyard was roughly bell-shaped, measuring 3.8m deep and approximately 2m in diameter. Bedrock was observed on the south-west side of the hole and it was suggested that the evidence pointed towards the presence of a rock-cut ditch, from which part of the fill had been removed by the action of water over a number of years. Cadw’s regional inspector visited the farm on 4 January and, although the hole lay just outside the scheduled area of the castle, concluded that the instability of the void and the uncertainty regarding its origin merited a further investigation under controlled conditions to allow its nature to be assessed prior to the implementation of remedial works. 1.3. CPAT were commissioned by Cadw to carry out the investigation and the work on site was carried out on 18-19 January. This report was written immediately thereafter. 1 CPAT Report No 1554 Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Archaeological Investigation Fig. 2: The hole in the farmyard as it first appeared, from the west. Photo CPAT 4440-0001 2 Archaeological Background 2.1. Montgomery Castle occupies a rocky promontory rising steeply above lower ground on its north and east sides. On the west, the ground rises from north to south, meeting the level on which the castle was built by the time its southern end is reached. The land continues to rise towards the summit of Town Hill to the south-south-west of the castle. The castle interior is relatively level and divided into a series of wards separated by ditches. 2.2. The castle was built under the auspices of Henry III from 1223, and it has been suggested that it was originally constructed in timber but rebuilt immediately in stone; this may owe its currency to a reference to the use of carpenters in forming the defences of Montgomery Castle in 1223, though as Barker and Higham (1982, 20) suggest, this could equally relate to the refortification of the earlier motte and bailey castle of Hen Domen, nearby. It is perhaps significant that Lloyd (1912, 662n) makes no mention of a timber phase despite it being clear that he had examined the original building records, and at most it would seem that temporary wooden sections were installed awaiting replacement in stone. Construction of the new stone castle was completed in 1234, though only the inner ward was protected by a curtain wall and gatehouse, with the middle ward being walled in c.1253. 2 CPAT Report No 1554 Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Archaeological Investigation Fig 3: Montgomery Castle layout, modified from the Cadw guidebook, by permission 2.3. Around 1280 there was further strengthening of the town and castle defences following the uprising of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd and in the 1280s buildings such as the kitchen and brewhouse were erected in the Inner Ward. The centre tower of the east curtain wall of the Middle Ward was repaired, probably in the later 14th century, at which time the Well Tower was almost completely rebuilt. Further lodgings were added in the 1530s, in the south-west angle of the Inner Ward and against the west wall of the Middle Ward, when Rowland Lee, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, held the Presidency of the Council of the Marches (1534-43). A mansion of brick and timber was built in 1622-25 in the Middle Ward for Sir Edward Herbert, but both the castle and the 17th-century buildings were slighted by order of Parliament in 1649, and the ruins thereafter pillaged for stone. 2.4. Old Castle farmhouse was built within a rock-cut ditch at the south end of the castle wards, probably in the 18th century to judge from its appearance, though it does not appear on an engraving of 1742 which, albeit idealised, seems to show a small tower on top of the rock outcrop immediately to the north. Buildings are depicted in the approximate area of the farm on the Ordnance Surveyors drawing of 1816, and the subsequent 1 inch to 1 mile map of 1836, but it is only with the Tithe map of 1839 that we get an accurate depiction of the farmstead as a whole. This clearly shows the 3 CPAT Report No 1554 Old Castle Farm, Montgomery Archaeological Investigation farmhouse and some outbuildings, but the map predates the current range of outbuildings to the west of the house. By the time of the 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of 1886 and 1902 the arrangement of buildings is broadly that seen today, though the current range to the west may have projected an additional 2m further to the north than is currently evident. Fig. 4: The 1839 Tithe map 2.5. Extensive archaeological excavations were carried out at the castle in 1972-3, which concentrated on the inner gatehouse, inner and middle ward and their associated ditches (Knight, 1992, 97-180). 2.6. Of particular significance in the light of the present investigation is the clear depiction on the Tithe map (Fig. 3) of what appears to be an earthwork scarp encircling the stone-built castle; this is readily apparent on a 1932 aerial photograph, which shows