From all the attendees of this year's conference, a MASSIVE THANKYOU to @jpwarchaeology for organising a corker. A fantastic variety of sites, incl James arranging access to private property. He can now relax, but preparations for next year's conference in N Wales has begun!

Our annual conference has drawn to a close but only after a visit to a cracker of a site, Ashby de la Zouche Castle, Leicestershire (@EnglishHeritage). This, like Kirby Muxloe (see previous thread), was built for William, Lord Hastings in the late C15.

Kirby Muxloe is not only known as a fine example of C15 brickwork but also the surviving building accounts. At one point 100,000 bricks were delivered in a week. The workforce, which included labourers, ditchers, masons, bricklayers and gardeners, many coming from Wales.

Kirby Muxloe is not only known as a fine example of C15 brickwork but also the surviving building accounts. At one point 100,000 bricks were delivered in a week. The workforce, which included labourers, ditchers, masons, bricklayers and gardeners, many coming from Wales.

The gatehouse was planned to have 3 floors, but the upper storey may not have been completed. Darker bricks form a decorative scheme, which includes Hasting's initials and his badge of a sleeve/maunch.

The site has a rectangular plan with a central gatehouse on one side. It was intended to have corner towers and others midway along the enclosing walls; only the W tower was completed.

The 2nd castle is the beautiful, incomplete late C15 brick castle of Kirby Muxloe (Leicestershire). It was started to be built for William, Lord Hastings in late 1480, but he was executed in 1483. The building continued under his widow, Katherine, but this last for only a year.🧵

Today is the last day of the annual is the last day of the annual CSG conference. We started by exploring Leicester Castle, the remains include an aisled great hall constructed in mid C12 (later becoming a court house), a large motte, and a large vaulted cellar.

The 4th & final site visit today is Alton Castle (Staffs). It's a C12 & C13 enclosure castle. The medieval ruins share the site with Pugin designed buildings. We had an introductory talk by Bill Klemperer. A fascinating site that throws up more questions than answers!

The third site today was Tissington Earthworks. An enigmatic set of earthworks. They have been argued to have been a Norman ring work, a siege work of the British Civil Wars, or a garden feature of Tissington Hall.

The remains of other buildings include, the E gate, the tower on the N curtain wall, and the foundations of the new and old halls, chapel,

In the late 1170s the 'great tower' was built. The tower is more likely to have been an administrative/ceremonial building than one of accommodation. It continued in use until the late C16 for lordship courts as the only still functioning building.

The earliest surviving remains are sections of the curtain wall, which contains herringbone masonry.

The castle has stayed as a Crown property more or less continually until it was given to state care in 1932. Because of the royal accounts, there are relatively good documentary sources. The site has received little archaeological work.

The castle was built by 1086, (it was mentioned in the Domesday Book) for William Peveril, a key supporter of William I in the Midlands. In 1155, following William Peveril the younger fall from grace (supporting Stephen in the Anarchy), Henry II claimed the honour of Peveril.

Today's second site visit is Peveril Castle (@EnglishHeritage) and the village of Castleton. Once we climbed up to it, we could not only explore the castle, but also the amazing view over the surrounding landscape.

In the SE corner of the large enclosure are the substantial remains of fishponds, which were fed by a natural spring.

The courtyard castle was orientated NE to SW sitting on a moated terrace. Adjacent was a large ditched enclosure (5.5 hectares/13.6 acres), which may relate to an enclosed village that predates the castle.

Some of the features that are visible giving indications of its layout and design include 2 blocked square headed windows, one of which still has the 2-light double-cusped tracery (image).

In 2021 there was a buildings archaeology survey by Triskele Heritage (@jpwarchaeology) funded by the @CastleStudies Trust. As well as working out the probable layout, the survey showed that the site potentially rivalled Haddon Hall in splendour in scale and architecture.