Hopton Castle
Hopton Castle is a medieval ruin in Shropshire. The first surviving documentary record of Hopton Castle is from 1264, but it could have been founded as early as the 11th century.[1]
During the English Civil War the castle was damaged and in 1655 it was bought by Bartholomew Beale. Ownership descended through his family. Repairs were carried out in the 1950s and 1960s, though the ruins remained in poor condition. The early 21st century saw an increase in the amount of archaeological fieldwork at the castle, with a geophysical survey in 2005, an earthwork survey in 2006, and excavations by Time Team in 2009.[2][3] Since 2008 the site has been in the ownership of Hopton Castle Preservation Trust. Hopton Castle is both a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument and is included in English Heritage's 'Heritage at Risk Register'; a sixth of the scheduled monuments in the West Midlands are considered "at risk", and Hopton Castle's state is "very bad".[4]
References
- ↑ Wessex Archaeology (April 2010). Hopton Castle, Shropshire: Archaeological Excavation Report. Salisbury: Wessex Archaeology Limited. pp. 2–4.
- ↑ Wessex Archaeology, Hopton Castle, Shropshire: Archaeological Excavation Report, p. 6.
- ↑ "Hopton Castle, Shropshire: investigation history", Pastscape, accessed 3 March 2013.
- ↑ English Heritage (2010). Heritage at Risk Register, 2010: West Midlands, English Heritage, accessed 3 March 2013. pp. 4, 27.