Eardisley Castle

Eardisley Castle stands on a low mound in the village of Eardisley, Herefordshire. It was built in the 11th century as a motte and bailey castle with a moat fed by a nearby stream. The Domesday Book records it held by Robert from Roger de Lacy. By 1263 it belonged to Robert de Clifford, who once imprisoned the Bishop of Hereford there. From about 1272 it became the main home of the Baskerville family, though ownership changed often. The castle saw action in 1403 when Henry IV ordered it strengthened against Owain Glyndŵr. By the 1370s it was already in ruins. During the Civil War the Royalist Sir Humphrey Baskerville had it burned down. Only one gatehouse survived. A Baskerville still lived in the ruins in 1670, but poverty forced them out. Today only the earthen mound and fragments of the wet ditches remain. The moat was filled in 1972. Archaeologists found medieval pottery and tiles in 1994, including a piece of Roman pottery. The site is now a quiet grassy rise beside the village street.