Ham Castle

Ham Castle stands in Worcestershire at the foot of a wooded escarpment near the River Teme. It lies within the parish of Clifton-upon-Teme, about one and a half kilometres east of the village and six and a half kilometres south of Great Witley. The site was once a medieval motte and bailey castle, built on an oval mound with steep slopes on several sides. A hoard of medieval gold and silver was unearthed on the site in the 17th century. Today only the earthworks and traces of a double moat remain visible. The castle’s history is partly recorded in legal documents from the 13th century. It was mentioned in 1207 when King John granted it to Thomas de Galweya to hold during royal pleasure. Later, in 1288, a legal record refers to land in ‘Castel Homme’. During the Civil War the site was besieged and damaged by Parliamentary forces. Cannonballs from the attack were kept as relics. A chest of gold and silver was discovered there in the 17th century, buried during earlier alarms. Visitors find a grassy mound rising above the surrounding fields, its summit flat and covered with grass and weeds. The bailey area shows traces of a double moat fed by a spring and the nearby river. On the north-east side stands Ham Castle Farm, built after the medieval castle fell into ruin. The farmhouse retains some 17th-century features, including a massive staircase and old library shelves. Terraces and retaining walls from the same period survive nearby, marking the outline of the vanished mansion.