Crayke Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Crek; Crech; Creche; Creic; Creca; Crec; Crake; Crage

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

Norman motte and bailey castle whose wooden fortifications were later replaced with a stone tower house; the castle was held by the bishops of Durham. The castle is situated at the top of a prominent natural outcrop. The motte lies beneath the later structures and is still visible to the north of the castle as an earthwork mound rising about 2.5m above the hilltop, forming a platform on which later buildings were constructed. The inner bailey defences have been altered over the years and only survive as earthworks at the south east side as a short section of bank. Several phases of building and rebuilding are known to have occurred, culminating in work undertaken for Bishop Neville (of Durham) in the mid-C15. I am kindly informed by Dr Alan Hobson that remnants of these various building works, including some doors, windows and a vaulted undercroft, can be seen in the current building. Small scale excavations within the inner bailey have uncovered a gatehouse and a barn which was listed in C16 survey of the castle.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 333416)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE55907068

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

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 56925
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is MNY1823; MNY182; MNY1825 '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://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/100/craykecastle.htm
    http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/adv_reference.asp?imageUID=1622
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/crayke.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p34
    Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p13-7
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p98-9
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p116, 174
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p51-4, 327-9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p289
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p560
    Pevsner, N., 1966. The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, North Riding (London) p131
    Taylor, A., 1962, Round the Yorkshire Castles p15-6
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p137-8
    Page, Wm (ed), 1923, VCH York, North Riding Vol2 p120-3 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64622
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p45
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p219
    Whellan T, 1859, History and Topography of the City of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol2 p594-6
    Grainge, W., 1855, Castles and Abbeys of Yorkshire p247-9
    Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol3 p441-2
• Journal Articles
  • Dennison, Ed and Richardson, Shaun with contributions by Erik Matthews, 2007-8, 'Recent Work on some North Yorkshire Castles' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol21 p157-166
    Adams, K.A., 1990, 'Monastry and village at Crayke, North Yorkshire' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol62 p29-60
    Adams, K., 1984, 'Excavation and Fieldwork at Crayke' Council for Archaeology: Bulletin of the C.B.A. Churches Committee p3-6
    I'Anson, W.M., 1913, 'The castles of the North Riding' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p343
    Rev Canon Raine, 1869-70, Associated Architectural Societies' reports and papers [Lincoln, York, Northampton, Bedford, Worcester, Leicester and Sheffield ] Vol10 p66-9
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p522, 551
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p66 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01 ; Vol4 p12 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl04lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Richardson, S. and Dennison, E., 2007, Crayke Castle, Crayke: Photographic Survey and Archaeological Observations (unpublished EDAS report 2004/247.R03 for English Heritage)
    Hobson, Alan, 2006 and 2008, pers. comm.