Cawood Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Thorpe Lane; Carwood; Cawode

In the civil parish of Cawood. In the historic county of Yorkshire West Riding (Modern Authority of North Yorkshire, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

The Archbishop of York's palace is first mentioned in 1181 and was transformed into a sort of quadrangular castle between 1374-88. Between C13 and C16 many archbishops altered and improved the palace, and this is supported by much documentary evidence. The castle. The palace and castle were largely demolished in 1750. The chapel and gatehouse of 1426-51 remain as farm buildings and are in a good state of repair. Fragments of precinct wall have been discovered. The castle seems to have extended further east and extensive foundations of former buildings existed until circa 1778. Licence to crenellate granted 1272.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE573376

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 56254
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is MNY10871 '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.

• Web site links
  • http://bookings.landmarktrust.org.uk/BuildingDetails/Overview/154/Cawood_Castle
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p29
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p96-7
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p118, 153, 167, 188
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p325
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p302
    James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p184
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p515, 536
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p207
    Pevsner, N., 1959. The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, West Riding (London) p160
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH York Vol2 p48
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Niemeyer, N., 1911, 'Introductory Chapter' in Rait, R.S. (ed), English Episcopal Palaces (Province of York) (London; Constable & Co) p2-4 http://www.archive.org/details/englishepiscopal00raitiala
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p212-13
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p203-6
• Journal Articles
  • Blood, N.K. and Taylor, C.C., 1992, 'Carwood: an Archiepiscopal Landscape' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol64 p83-102
    Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p290 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1987, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1986' Medieval Archaeology Vol31 p168 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
• 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 (1266-72) p632
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#yorks30]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p522
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol4 p12 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl04lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]
    1982, Yorkshire Vernacular Buildings Study Group Report No 811