Cleobury Mortimer

Cleobury Mortimer lies on the direct road from Kidderminster and Bewdley to Ludlow, about 10 miles east of Ludlow.

As its name indicates, the town was a Mortimer possession from early times, being listed in Domesday book as belonging to Ralph de Mortimer (d>1115). There are two castle sites, one in the middle of the town and the other on elevated ground to the east, by the river Rea. Unfortunately, documentary information is very scarce, so the relative status of each of these castles, at different times, is not clear.

The central castle (Castle Ditches) occupied a position on rising ground directly behind the parish church. The site of this motte and bailey castle has now been substantially built over. While only minimal earthworks are still visible above ground, significant remains of buildings are still occasionally uncovered. The castle to the east is called Toot Castle. Its motte is strategically positioned at the end of a promontory overlooking a crossing point of the river. Its earthworks survive and are incorporated into the gardens of a large house built on the site.

The first mention of a castle at Cleobury Mortimer is in 1155. Hugh Mortimer (d1181) was resisting Henry II’s demand that he should surrender the previously royal castle at Bridgnorth that he had appropriated during the Anarchy. In a great show of strength, the king besieged Wigmore and Bridgnorth and largely destroyed the castle at Cleobury Mortimer. It is thought that this could have been the Castle Ditches site, and that Castle Toot might have been built afterwards. There was certainly a castle at Cleobury in 1179 and Hugh Mortimer is said to have lived and died in the town, but it is not known at which site.