High Ercall

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This is High Ercall Hall in Shropshire, today it’s the very picture of rural tranquility. But 355 years ago at the height of the Civil War, more than 200 royalist troops were crammed inside these walls, fighting for their lives.

They’d already survived two bloody sieges, but this final attack was to prove too much. This strategic fortress was about to fall into Parliamentary hands. Just how it finally succumb to roundhead guns is a mystery, but that’s not the only mystery here.

There’s a plaque on the wall that says High Ercall Hall was built in 1608, but if that’s the case, what’s this bit of medieval monastery doing here?

And then there are these massive earthworks. The royalist troops depended on them for their survival, but could they be much older than that?

Time Team have been invited here to unravel the history of High Ercall Hall, and as usual, we’ve got just three days to do it.