Earthwork remains of a motte and bailey extant in 1086 and possibly constructed pre-conquest. Excavations in the 1960s revealed remains of stone fortifications including an octagonal keep, four round towers and another large square keep-like tower, all probably of C12 date. Earthwork survey by English Heritage in 2000 recorded the motte and bailey as a massive mound heavily scarred by excavation trenches, a small bailey to the east, and a ditch with counterscarp bank. Overall, the mound is some 26.5m high, and 60m in diameter at the base, tapering to circa 8m at the top. The bailey encloses an area of circa 0.2 hectares and is surrounded on its north, east and south sides by an irregularly shaped rampart. An inner ditch up to 10m wide and 0.2m deep surrounds the motte, while a further ditch and counterscarpo bank surrouns the motte and bailey as a whole.

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Name	Richards Castle
Alternative Names	Auretone; Averetone; Avretone; Overton
Historic County	Herefordshire
Civil Parish	Richards Castle
Type	Timber Castle Masonry Castle
Confidence	Certain
Remains	Earthworks
Listed	Grade 2
Scheduled Ancient Monument	Yes
Ordnance Survey Reference	SO483702
Eastings	348340
Northing	270260
Images of England Reference	150145
PastScape Reference	108770
Historic Environment Record	1661

Multi Map

StreetMaps

Books

• Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p476
• Salter, Mike, 2000, Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern) p57--8
• Remfry, Paul M., 1999, The Nine Castles of Burford Barony, 1048 to 1308 (SCS Publishing: Worcestershire)
• Remfry, Paul M., 1997,Richard's Castle, 1048 to 1219 (SCS Publishing: Worcestershire)
• Shoesmith, Ron, 1996, Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire (Logaston Press)
• Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p101
• Helen Clarke, 1984, The archaeology of medieval England (British Museum Publications, London) p117-20
• King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p210
• Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p284-5
• Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
• Pevsner, N., 1963, The Buildings of England Herefordshire p276
• Whitelock, Dorothy (revised translation), 1961, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle p118-9, 122, 125
• Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p40-1
• RCHME, 1934, An inventory of the historical monuments in Herefordshire. Vol3: north-west p172 [plan p173]
• Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p6,136
• Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p192-3
• Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
• Chalkley Gould, 1908, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hereford Vol1 p245-6
• Allcroft, A. Hadrian, 1908, Earthwork of England (London) p430-1 http://www.archive.org/details/earthworkofengla00allc
• Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p115
• Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p401-4 [plan most untrustworthy]
• Robinson, Rev C.J., 1872, A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire (Logaston Press, 2001 reprint)
• Robinson, Rev C.J., 1867, The Castles of Herefordshire and Their Lords (Logaston Press, 2002 reprint) p118-20

Antiquarian

• William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/hertseng.html#herts8]
• Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p225, 228
• Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p76 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl02lelauoft

Journals

• Halliwell, Peter, Archaeological Research Section Woolhope NFC, 1997, Herefordshire Archaeological News Vol67 p29
• Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106 p371-392 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28199104%29106%3A419%3C371%3AAHOCRI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q
• Currow, P.E. and Thompson, M.W.,1969, 'Excavations at Richards Castle Herefordshire 1962-1964' Journal of the British Archaeological Association [ser3] Vol32 p105-128
• Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
• Thompson, M.W., 1965, ‘Richard’s Castle' The Hundred-and-Twelfth Annual Meeting at Hereford, 1965, CAA p22-4
• Hurst, D. Gillian,1965, 'Medieval Britain in 1964. II. Post-Conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol9 p190 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
• Hurst, D. Gillian, 1964, 'Medieval Britain in 1962 and 1963, II. Post-Conquest' Medieval Archaeology Vol8 p254 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
• Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol112 p77-124
• Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
• Pilley, Walter, 1901, 'Richard's Castle, Notes' Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club p157-62 [history]
• Clark, G.T., 1873, 'Richard's Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol30 p143-52 [reprinted in MMA]

Primary Sources

• Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p249