Whorlton Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Potto; Hwernelton; Wernelton

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

Remains of motte and bailey and later stone castle.These earthworks are of the early mount and bailey type, modified for the addition of a later stone keep. A ditch 60ft wide, and 11ft deep encompasses the motte, and a roughly rectangular bailey is attached to the north east and south east sides. Further earthworks may possibly indicate a settlement and fishponds. The gatehouse is C14 rectangular structure of dressed stone, with a projecting vice at the north west angle. About 24yds to the west are the remains of the castle comprising some vaulted cellars, the largest of which measures 29ft by 13ft 9 inches. The castle was described as ruinous in 1343 but the date of dismantling is not known. A two-storied dwelling house was built against the north west end of the gate house at the end of C16 or beginning of C17.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 333224, 333225)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ4810245

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 number; 26817

• Web site links
  • http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/easy_results.asp?index=1&main_query=whorlton%20castle
    http://www.teesarchaeology.com//projects/aerial_photography/gallery/index161.html
    http://www.teesarchaeology.com//projects/aerial_photography/gallery/index363.html
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/whorlton.html
• Books
  • Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p88-9 [plan]
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p110
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p78-9
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p413
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p300
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p528
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p318
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p345
    Pevsner, N., 1966, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire North Riding (London, Penguin) p401
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p114-5
    Page, Wm (ed), 1923, VCH York, North Riding Vol2 p309-13 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64667
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p42-3
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Fuller, J., 1909, Ancient Parish of Whorlton
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol p273-4
    Graves, G., 1808, History of Cleveland p145
• Journal Articles
  • Wilkinson, Paul, 2005, 'Whorlton Castle NZ481025' CSG Newsletter Vol7 Issue1 p6-7 [summary of Daily Telegraph article]
    Wilkinson, Paul, 2005 May 28, Daily Telegraph
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    I'Anson, W.M., 1913, 'The castles of the North Riding' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p396-7 [plan]
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p502-3
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#yorks46]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p563
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p6
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Corbett, G.S., 1994, Whorlton Castle Gatehouse, Whorlton, N. Yorks (National Monument Record Centre)