50 yards west of the church there is a motte and bailey earthwork, recorded in the Domesday Survey as a ‘domus defensibilis,’ a ‘fortified house’. The castle is on the road into Herefordshire from Wales and must have been very vulnerable to attack by Welsh marauders. It is also in the centre of the district in which the Barons Wars of the 1260's were waged. Description of the site today.
	© Paul Wood

The moat is wet and encloses an area c1.25 acre. Along the W and SW sides is an outer bank and further West a stream appears to have been used to form an irregular outer enclosure. A second stream and bank again on the W side form a second enclosure. The moat is partly infilled and only the SW and part of the S arm, water filled, remain. These two streams appear to be connected to the watermill.

Foundation and history of the site.

1086: Mentioned in the Domesday Survey as being held by Robert from Roger de Lacy. The land did not pay tax, or any customary dues, nor lies in any Hundred. A fortified house was there. In lordship 1 plough; 2 slaves and 1 Welshman who pays 3s.

1183: It is known as a castle as early as this year and in 1216, and the beginning of the reign of Henry III, it is found in a list of Herefordshire Castles.

1262: The Welsh were in open rebellion and moving towards Hereford plundered the castles of Weobley and Eardisley.

1263: Roger de Clifford was in possession and it was here that he imprisoned the foreign Bishop of Hereford, Peter de Aquablanca.

1272: William Baskerville was licensed to hold services in the chapel.

The castle was probably the chief residence of the Baskervilles in 1272. The Baskerville family had two members of great note: Sir John who as a boy, fought for the King at Agincourt and James who was one of three Herefordshire heroes made Knight Bannerets by Henry VII after the battle of Stoke in 1487.

The Baskervilles fortunes changed and poverty crept in, at the end of their line the castle was sold to William Barnesley.

1277: Eardisley Castle was taken from the de Bohuns by Edward I and given to Roger de Clifford, the de Bohuns’ later seized it back.

1372: The de Bohuns, Earls of Hereford were overlords of Eardisley until this date, when the earldom of Hereford ceased to be and Eardisley was passed over into the Crown

1403: Henry IV ordered the castle to be fortified against attacks by Owain Glyn Dwr, even though by 1374 the castle had already been ruined.

1642-6: The castle was in the possesion of Sir Humphrey Baskerville a Royalist and in the Civil War was burnt down to the ground with only one of the gatehouse escaping ruin. A member of the Baskerville family was living in this ruin in 1670 in comparable poverty.

The Parish Register of Eardisley contains details of the burial of Benhail Baskerville in 1684 and attached to his name ais the phrase 'Dominus Manerii de Erdisley' ('Master of the Manor of Eardisley'). He was the last of the male line of the Baskervilles ans the raminder of the property was sold to William Barnesley, bencher of the Inner Temple. He disinherited his son for marrying below his staion and the estate became the subject of litigation (details of which can be found in the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol 61).The son and his wife were successful and inscribed on their gravestone is - 'at length they overcame and died conquerors.'

The heir of Barnesley was a lunatic and the Castle and Park were sold to Dr Pettit by whom they were later sold to Mr Perry who bequeathed them to W. Perry Herrick, Esq. of Beaumanoir, Leicestershire.

The mound and wet ditches are the only traces of the ancient fortress- not even fragments remain.

Excavation.

In 1990  a salvage recording was carried out at Eardisley Castle following a planning application to convert a barn into 4 dwellings. the aim of the project was to observe and record archaeological deposits revealed during groundwork. 6 sections were recorded, and artefacts werer recovered from most of the layers.  In total 46 sherds of pottery were recovered of which 39 were medieval. Other finds included tiles, fired clay, ironwork, a roman pottery sherd and flint flake. The roman pottery and flint flake were determined to be residual (probably stray) finds. As well as the pottery fired clay daub fragments were also recorded.

The ceramic remains that were uncovered dated mainly form the medieval period within a date range of 12th - 14th centuries. The dating of this pottery is interesting since none of it appears to be later than 14th century which suggests that the castle was disused until the 17th/18th century and yet historical evidence indicates that the castle continued to be inhabited until this period. The layers from which the fired clay daubs were recovered may date from the 12th century when the village of Eardisley was burnt by the Welsh.