Stainborough Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Stainborough Low; Stainborough Lowe

In the civil parish of Stainborough. In the historic county of Yorkshire West Riding (Modern Authority of Barnsley, 1974 county of South Yorkshire).

It is suggested that an IA hillfort was reused as a medieval ring work or motte, which in turn was flattened and utilised as the site of the mock castle folly of Stainborough Castle. Trial excavations in 1962 and at other times in the 1960's excavated a ditch in which IA pottery and ME flint were found, but no conclusions could be drawn as to the history of the site. Court Roll 1613 refers to the castle in ruins, which could suggest a stone structure. Nearby Wentworth Castle was constructed on the site of Stainborough Old Hall; was this itself a replacement for an earlier castle?

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE31580304

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 52458, 1383101

• Web site links
  • http://www.wentworthcastle.org/
• Books
  • Hogg, A.H.A., 1979, British hillforts: an index (BAR British series Vol62) p143
    Elgee, Frank and Wragg, Harriet, 1933, The Archaeology of Yorkshire p118
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p10
• Journal Articles
  • Birch, J., 1981, ‘Stainborough Castle’ Archaeological Journal Vol137 p448-9
    Birch, J., 1981, 'The castles and fortified houses of South Yorkshire' Archaeological Journal Vol137 p374-6
    Preston F L., 1954, Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Vol74 p14
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Humphrey, J.E., 1982, 'A Prospect of Stainborough', unpub. thesis, Sheffield, pp334-5 also appendix 27