Richard's Castle, The Green, Richard's Castle, Herefordshire
Richard’s Castle is thought to take its name from Richard son of Scrob. He had settled in Herefordshire by 1052. It is thought that he laid the first foundations for his castle around this time. This would make Richard’s Castle one of only four pre-Conquest castles in England. In c1200 it passed to the de Mortimer family. In 1364 Hugh de Mortimer died and the castle passed to the Talbots, who held it until 1380. At the Dissolution (1537) it went back to the Crown. In 1545-6 it was granted to the Earl of Warwick, grandfather of Lady Jane Grey. On 12th October 1548 the Earl of Warwick granted a 200 year lease to William Heath, a relative of Nicholas Heath, Bishop of Worcester. William Heath did not hold it for long, as it was transferred to Richard Cornewall and then to John Bradshaw. In 1558 the lease was under Roland Bradshaw who married Mary, the daughter of Arthur Salwey, into whose family it passed. The Salwey family are the present owners of the site.
