Weoley Castle - A Birmingham Gem!

Weoley Castle is the remains of a fortified manor house in Weoley Castle, Birmingham. The ruins dates back to 1264.


Weoley Castle is the ruins of a fortified manor house near Alwold Road in Weoley Castle, Birmingham.

Weoley Castle

Weoley Castle from Alwold Road (May 2020). Photography by Elliott Brown

 

Alwold Road

Weoley Castle

Birmingham

B29 5RJ

0121 348 8140

Go here for the official Weoley Castle website.

 

Weoley Castle Google Maps

Weoley Castle on Google Maps

 

History of Weoley Castle

In 1264, Roger de Somery was licenced to crenellate his manor house. Fragments of a 13th century wooden buildings have been found here. There was also a detailed survey of the site in 1422. Most of the ruins we see today dates to the 1270s. The King at the time (Henry III) gave the Lords of Dudley permission to fortify his castle in stone. Although described as a castle, it was just a fortified manor house, surrounded by a large moat. Moated sites were common across Birmingham, but none remain today.  After the Norman Conquest the land was given to William Fitz Ansulf who became the Lord of Dudley and lived at Dudley Castle. What you see today was built for Roger de Somery, who was the Lord of Dudley at the end of the 1200s. By 1485 the castle was owned by William Berkeley, who lost the castle when he fought for Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. The Dudleys sold the land in 1531 to Richard Jervoise a wealthy cloth merchant. He didn't live here. The ruins are well over 750 years old. The fortified manor house was built for the Lords of Dudley. The castle used to be surrounded by a large deer park which stretched for 1000 acres.A farmhouse was built nearby in the 18th century. It remained rural land until 1930 when Mr Ledsam the then owner of the land sold it to the Council. The archaeological digs took place here between the 1930s and 1950s. There had been a farmhouse on this site for many centuries, but was described by the 17th century as a ruined castle. The Birmingham Corporation bought the estate in 1930. It has been ran by the Birmingham Museums Trust (since 2012) and owned by the Birmingham City Council. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II listed building.

Weoley Castle

Weoley Castle (December 2015). Photography by Elliott Brown

Project dates

22 Feb 2021 - On-going

Passions

History & heritage, Environment & green action, Travel & tourism
Classic Architecture

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Contact

Your Place Your Space

Jonathan Bostock

0121 410 5520
jonathan.bostock@ yourplaceyourspace.com