The place-name 'Eccleswall' is indicative of first millennium Christian settlement. The name recorded for Eccleswall in 1274 is ‘Egleswalle’, or ‘Spring at a Christian centre’.

King Henry II granted lordship of the Manor of Eccleswall to Richard De Talbot, who is thought to have built Eccleswall castle. Talbot’s descendant, also named Richard, signed himself 'Dominus de Eccleswall' in a letter to the Pope in which the Barons asserted the right of King Edward to superior power over Scotland. The Talbots remained at Eccleswall until 1342, when the family seat transferred to the larger and grander castle of Goodrich.

Eccleswall Court was owned by the Talbots until 1616, when Gilbert Talbot, 7^th Earl of Shrewsbury, died without a male heir and the estate passed to his second daughter Lady Elizabeth, wife of Henry Grey the 8^th Earl of Kent. In 1718 the estates of the earl of Kent were sold to George Bonner. Joseph Waite (Burton) purchased the land from Bonner in 1823.

This figure shows Burton Court with the land purchased from Eccleswall (shown in orange).  The estate of Eccleswall Court (shown in green) consisted of extensive fields and orchards, as marked on the tithe map of 1839.

The site lies very near to the Roman industrial settlement at Ariconium.  This settlement was the subject of a survey in 1996, as part of the Central Marches Historic Towns Project.  Ariconium will also be the subject of a forthcoming English Heritage desk-based survey. In the interim, the late Elizabeth Taylor, produced a fieldwork summary which was published in the Herefordshire Archaeological Newsletter.

Ariconium has produced large quantities of ancient finds including pre-Roman coins, 13 of which were recovered from an excavation in the 1920s.

Eccleswall Court is also the recorded site of a now lost medieval castle and a chapel. The original layout of Eccleswall castle is shown below, but all that remains today is a grass grown moat and a low mound of earth. The castle was extant during the reign of Henry II, but was allowed to fall into decay after 1342. Some fragments of masonry built into the farmhouse now occupying the site are thought to have come from the castle, as well as some stones present in the garden wall.

The remains of the chapel consist of single tower of indeterminate date incorporated into an outbuilding at Eccleswall Court. It was formerly a chapel in Eccleswall Castle, to which the last presentation was made in March 1541. The chapel was dedicated to Thomas the Martyr, and remained in service until the 18^th century.

A series of medieval fishponds exists to the east of the main – largely post-medieval – building complex.

Unpublished Report - Eccleswall Court, Linton, Herefordshire: archaeological monitoring - Clementine Lovell, 2004 Cl

This report is available at the Archaeological Data Service site

To view or download the report click here

m Lovell