Longtown and District Historical Society started the Longtown Castles Project in 2015, with the support of a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant. It’s aim is to investigate the origins of the two castles, Ponthendre Motte and Longtown Castle. Both are situated one kilometre apart in the Parish of Clodock and Longtown, south-west Herefordshire.
Why the two castle sites exist in such close proximity had never been properly explained. The motte and bailey at Ponthendre was assumed to be older, as no stone structures are now in evidence. Longtown Castle, on the other hand, still had a stone keep and the remains of stone curtain walls dating, it was thought, from the 13th century. However, it may have had a timber predecessor and is also superimposed on a massive earthwork enclosure, which coulkd have been of Iron Age, Roman or Saxon origin.
To explore the origins of both castles, the project took a two-pronged approach :
- by examining contemporary documents of the periods involved. Were there new documents to be discovered? Were there new ways of interpreting already-known sources?
- by archaeological survey and excavation. Grateful thanks are due to Historic England and the landowners for permission to excavate at both sites during 2016 and 2017.
As a community project, it was important to involve as many local volunteers as possible. During 2016, over 40 volunteers took part in the excavations and 24 in historical research. 150 local schoolchildren visited the dig sites and 120 local people attended an exhibition of the season’s results. 6 local artists also produced drawings of the archaeologists at work!
In 2017, 58 volunteers took part in the digs followed by a pageant and medieval fun-day attended by over 300 local people. Education packs were produced for local schools together with booklets on the castles, including one showing a historical trail through Longtown and Clodock.
