Ellesmere Castle was in the town of Ellesmere

Ellesmere, Shropshire

Ellesmere is a small market town near Oswestry in north Shropshire, England, notable for its proximity to a number of prominent lakes, the Meres.-History:...

, Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

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This was a motte and bailey castle which was probably founded by Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury

Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury

Roger de Montgomerie , also known as Roger the Great de Montgomery, was the first Earl of Shrewsbury. His father was also Roger de Montgomerie, and was a relative, probably a grandnephew, of the Duchess Gunnor, wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy...

 on a prominent hill to the east of the town, overlooking the Mere, soon after the Norman conquest. It was given to the Peverel family by Henry I

Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

 but taken back by Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

 who granted it to David

Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd

Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd was Prince of Gwynedd from 1170 to 1195. For a time he ruled jointly with his brothers Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd and Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd....

, son of Owain Gwynedd

Owain Gwynedd

Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...

, Prince of Wales in about 1177. It alternated between the English and Welsh crowns until the 1240s when it passed to the le Strange family whose origins were in Knockin

Knockin

-History:Knockin is a village and civil parish located on the B4396 in Shropshire, England. It comprises mainly historic detached buildings in a rural setting. Much of Knockin was owned by the Earl of Bradford until it was sold off in lots to meet other financial demands. The Earl still owns the...

, Shropshire.

Today the sides of the motte are clad with trees and its summit is occupied by a bowling green

Bowling green

A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...

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