Miserden Castle was a castle near the village of Miserden

Miserden

Miserden is a village and civil parish in Stroud District, Gloucestershire, England, 4 miles north east of Stroud. The parish includes Whiteway Colony and the hamlets of Sudgrove and The Camp...

 in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The castle is a large motte and bailey Norman castle, built before 1146 by Robert Musard, after whose family the local village is named. The castle overlooks the River Frome

River Frome, Stroud

The River Frome, once also known as the Stroudwater, is a small river in Gloucestershire, England. It is to be distinguished from another River Frome in Gloucestershire, the Bristol Frome....

 and included a 60 ft wide shell keep

Shell keep

A shell keep is a style of medieval fortification, best described as a stone structure circling the top of a motte.In English castle morphology, shell keeps are perceived as the successors to motte-and-bailey castles, with the wooden fence around the top of the motte replaced by a stone wall...

, protected by a stone wall and a moat. The castle is positioned on a rocky spur, and the north side of the castle was probably flooded from the river to produce a wet moat, further strengthening the considerable defences. Musard was killed by forces loyal to King Stephen

Stephen of England

Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...

 during the years of the Anarchy

The Anarchy

The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...

and the castle seized by Philip of Gloucester, but the castle survived into at least the 13th century. Some earthworks and masonry structures remain.