Aldingham Moat Hill

In the civil parish of Aldingham. In the historic county of Lancashire North of the Sands (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Earthwork remains of a motte and bailey castle. The motte is sub-circular in plan with the south eastern side having been lost to erosion. To the north of the motte is a ditch extending from the south east to the north west with a possible causeway in the centre. Extending to the north east is another ditch. A bank to the west may be a post medieval field boundary utilising aspects of the earlier earthworks. Excavations in 1968 showed that this castle overlay a C12 ringwork, was modified in late C12/early C13 and was abandoned in mid-C13. Aldingham motte is 30ft high with a surrounding ditch 10ft deep on the south side and 8ft deep on the morth, varying from 15 to 20ft wide at the bottom. Some 40yds north of the mound there is a broad straight ditch 250ft long and 18ft wide at the bottom, extending at almost right angles to the sea cliff. (PastScape)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SD27786983

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 37622
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 2613 '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/96/aldinghamcastle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/aldingham.html
    http://www.matthewpemmott.co.uk/2006/03/aldingham-mottealdingham-grange.html
• Books
  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p375
    Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p12
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p274 [slight]
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p61, 355
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p27
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p244
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p176-7
    Gibson, Leslie Irving, 1977, Lancashire Castles and Towers (Dalesman Books)
    (Davison), 1969, Archaeological Excavation 1968 (HMSO) p24
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands p34-6, 142 [plan questionable]
    Cowper, 1908, in Farrer, Wm and Brownbill, J.(eds), VCH Lancaster Vol2 p556-8
    West, T., 1805, Antiquites of Furness p388-91
• Journal Articles
  • Higham, Mary, 1991, 'The Mottes of North Lancashire, Lonsdale and South Cumbria' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol91 p79-90 [reprinted in Crosby, A.G. (ed), 2007, Of names and places: selected writings of Mary Higham (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society and the Society for Name Studies) p81-91]
    Davison, B.K., 1969, 'Aldingham - Motte' Current Archaeology Vol2 p23-4
    Wilson, D.M. and Hurst, D.G., 1969, Medieval Archaeology Vol13 p258-9 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Kelly, 1924, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol24 p260-5, 271-7
    Collingwood, 1909, The Antiquary Vol45 p252-8
    1906, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol6 p320-1 [plan] http://www.archive.org/stream/transactionscum06collgoog#page/n374/mode/1up
    Cowper, H. Swainson, 1893, 'The ancient settlements, cemeteries, and earthworks of Furness' Archaeologia Vol53 p422-4
    Ferguson, 1888, 'Two Moated Mounds, Liddell and Aldingham' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol9 pt2 p404-11 http://www.archive.org/stream/transactionvol9no2cumb#page/404/mode/1up
    1879-80, Proceedings of the Barrow Naturalists Club Vol3 p119-20