Weoley Castle

Weoley Castle stands in a quiet Birmingham suburb as the last remains of a fortified manor house. Built on Anglo-Saxon lands, it began as a timber hall around the year 1000 before stone walls rose in the 13th century. Roger de Somery obtained a licence to crenellate in 1264 and enlarged the moat and hall. By the 15th century the estate passed through several noble families, including the Berkeleys and the Dudleys. After 1603 the Jervoise family left and the castle fell into ruin, becoming a farmhouse by the 17th century. Archaeologists uncovered an altar, curtain wall and stone building outlines between 1932 and 1962. Finds include coins from 1210 to 1483, European pottery and a 14th-century chess piece. The moat once fed from the nearby Bourn Brook tributary and surrounded a great hall, kitchen and chapel. Waterlogging preserved the foundations of the wooden kitchen demolished in 1260. Today only these foundations and fragments of the moat remain visible. Visitors walk among the grassy banks of the old moat and see the exposed stone footings of the hall and chapel. Interpretive signs explain the timber and stone phases of the manor. Apple trees mark the site of the 17th-century farmhouse where Thomas Jervoise lived until 1654. The brick wall along one arm of the moat still stands, and the Dudley Canal runs along the northern boundary. The ruins are cared for as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, offering a quiet glimpse into medieval domestic life.