'n<.i> Httptrji* Lodyt ^r Newcourt Tump, Bacton ANCIENT EARTHWORKS no visible trace of masonry, and such may not have existed, as this work may have been disused at an early period in favour of Almeley Castle. Bacton : Newcourt Tump. — This small earthwork, possibly that of a castle of Class E, stands upon the slope of a hill 4 miles north-east of Long- town and about 1 20 ft. above the River Dore, which flows less than / half a mile on the east. The posi- tion is naturally defended on the east by the fall of the hill, and the en- trenchments appear to consist of a tiny mount, with a small court on the west defended by a scarp ; the work is curious and of little import- ance, nor could it ever have been of much consequence, even if well stockaded with timber or walled with stone. Brampton Bryan Castle. — The castle is situated a little over 2 miles west-by-south of Leintwardine, and stands in and forms part of a pleasure garden belonging to the adjoining mansion. The story of the castle appertains to another chapter of this History ; here it is sufficient to say that the traces of earthworks indicate that the original formation was that of a small mount and court stronghold. The mount is now only i o ft. above the court ; the latter was rectangular, but its protective works have been destroyed, only a scarp remaining in parts. The Rev. C. J. Robinson considered it likely that the foundation of Brampton Castle should be assigned to the later years of Henry L«» Bredwardine Castle. — The castle was on a natural hill rising about 50 ft. above the River Wye, 6J miles north-east of Hay. The position is naturally defended on the east by the river, and by the fall of the land on east, south, and south-west. The Rev. C. y. Robinson says : — Bredwardine Castle was most aptly situated alike for levying blackmail and defying retaliation. . . . The fortress, well victualled, might have ' laughed a siege to scorn.' In front, at the foot of a steep escarpment, flowed a rapid river which it was impossible to cross except by the ferry, and on the landward side a moat, broad and deep, formed the defence, strong in itself and further strengthened by a wild and rugged country which, thinly peopled with dependent vassals, stretched southward and westward to the Black Mountains.*" Little trace of the earthworks is left beyond the slopes of the castle site, the scarping of the hill-side on the south, and a fosse, now shallow, upon the west, where the high land continues. Possibly once a deep trench cut off the southern ending of the hill to form a keep mount, and on the north, where there is " Castles ofHeref. (1869), 8. '» Ibid. (1869), 19. I 233 30 Bredwardine Castle
