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Thursday 19 April 2012

Quatford Castle


 A-Z Challenge 2012 - Q
Quatford Castle

The village of Quatford in the English County of Shropshire sits on the bank of the River Severn and is one of the oldest settlements in the area.

A fortress was built at Quatford by Ethelfleda in 913. Earl Roger Montgomery built what was almost certainly a timber castle there, on high ground overlooking the river, in 1085. Earthworks are all that remains of the motte and bailey castle. The 9m high motte is D-shaped, 35 x 50m at the base and 11m at the top. A rock-cut ditch bounds the eastern side.

Quatford Castle 2007
The existing ‘castle’ is on a different site north of the village and was built by a man named John Smalman for himself. Smalman’s Quatford Castle is a modern mansion on an elevated site with extensive views.

As you can see it is less romantic that the other castles you have seen in this series. Alas I also have no ghostly tales to recount.

Quatford is the only British castle I could find beginning with ‘Q’.

Hilary’s castle for P was Pendennis Castle, Cornwall

Attribution
  • Quatford Castle 2007; built by John Smalman in 1830; author John M; from the Geograph project collection; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 License.

15 comments:

David Robinson said...

Another one I'd never heard of, Bob. And no ghosts?

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Bob - well clever you for finding one - you obviously have an infinity with Mortimer! I found two in NI - but they were 'dull' .. so had to be inventive.

Interesting history here - any high point was 'secured' as a vantage point in the faction wars that were always going on. I guess it was on the way to Welsh Marches too ..

No ghosts .. I bet there are a few around the Motte and Bailey buried thankfully in the history of time.

There are a few mansions that are called Castles .. when did Smalman build it?

Cheers Hilary

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Bother - just seen your caption says 1830!! Cheers again .. I'll go and wake up now!! Hilary

Amanda Heitler said...

Loving swapping between you and Hilary to track your castles. Hugely enjoyable seeing what you both come up with.

Amanda
http://dramadiceanddamsons.blogspot.co.uk/

A Daft Scots Lass said...

quaint!

Bish Denham said...

Modern or not, it looks lovely just the same.

Jo said...

Yes I too am enjoying swapping between castles. Very interesting. Never heard of Quatford.

Luanne G. Smith said...

Yes, bonus points to you for finding a castle that starts with Q! We can make up stories about it being haunted later. :)

Robyn Campbell said...

Wow. I can't believe you found one that begins with a Q. Excellent! But no ghostly tales. *sigh* Still, it is exquisite nestled behind those trees. :-)

Rosalind Adam said...

What! No ghosts? Tut, tut. I've never been to this castle.

Tonja said...

I think a castles with no ghosts is a good castle. :)

Jenni Steel said...

No ghosts, such a pity. lol!

Wendy said...

Timber castle? Hmm -- that seems to fly in the face of the very definition of castle. Timber seems easily destructible. But what do I know?

Mimi said...

Bravo for finding a Q castle!


Mimi Torchia Boothby Watercolors

Unknown said...

My family have been living in the wonderful property for nearly 40 years now, loved growing up here.