Swine Castle Hill

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Bransholm; Brancholme; Bransholme; le Hermitage in Braunceholm

In the civil parish of Wawne. In the historic county of Yorkshire East Riding (Modern Authority of East Riding of Yorkshire, 1974 county of Humberside).

The monument is the remains of a medieval motte and comprises a steep-sided oval mound enclosed by an earthen bank, a dry moat and a counterscarp bank of up-cast earth. The mound is 150m in length NE-SW and up to 100m in breadth. At its highest point in the centre of the mound it is 5m high. It is immedately enclosed around its base by an earthen bank 0.5m high and 5m wide. The moat is up to 10m wide and 1m deep. The surrounding counterscarp bank is 1m high and 5m wide. The SW end of the monument has been truncated by the (now disused) railway line. In 1918 a trench was dug across the site by soldiers from a nearby training camp, supervised by Tom Shepherd, Curator of Hull Museum. This 110m long trench was orientated NW-SE and traversed the hill from its NE end. It survives as a silted feature 2m deep and 3m wide. The excavation recovered quantities of medieval pottery and the corner of a brick building which Shepherd considered to be of Elizabethan date. A hall is referred to at the site in a record of 1668 and the remains may be of the 'Mansion House' which gave the site its 18th-century name. The monument is thought to be the castle of Branceholme built by Sir John Saher before 1200. In 1353 John de Sutton was fined for crenellating a castle at the site. (EH Scheduling Report)
The earthworks, which are based on a glacial morraine, are much disturbed by gravel working. The house of John de Sutton was 'strengthened with tiles and mortar'. Tiles here may well mean clay bricks and the brick foundations found in 1918, and dated as Elizabethan, may benefit for a new assessment . (Hull and Beverley in Yorkshire became important brick towns with Municipal brickyards being established in Hull in 1303. Michael Hammett - http://www.archaeologyinmarlow.org.uk/2008/02/history-of-bricks/)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TA12553435

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 80633
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website, or elsewhere.

• Books
  • Kent, G.H.R., 2002, 'Middle division: Swine' VCH Yorkshire East Riding Vol7 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16132
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p103
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p17
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p421
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p527
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield)
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p22-3
    Blashill, 1900, Sutton-in-Holderness (London)
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p415
• Journal Articles
  • Coulson, C., 1994, 'Freedom to Crenellate by Licence - An Historiographical Revision' Nottingham Medieval Studies Vol38 p126n122
    T.S[hepard]., 1920, Transactions of the East Riding Antiquarian Society Vol23 p57-8
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1350-54) p218
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p499-500
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • English Heritage Scheduling Amendment 17/11/94