Sherburn in Elmet Hall Garth

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

The monument, known as Hall Garth, consists of a number of earthworks, including building platforms, wall lines, ditches, terraces and small quarrying scoops. It is identified as the site of the palace built on land given by King Athelstan to the Archbishop of York. Athelstan was the first king to have control over all of the English after overthrowing the Scandinavian kingdom of York in 927. In 937 he defeated an alliance of Scots and Scandanavians at the Battle of Brunanburg and as thanks for this victory he gave the manors at Sherburn and Cawood to the Archbishop of York. The manor house or palace at Sherburn was a high status site and was subsequently used as a hunting lodge by the Archbishops. By 1361 the palace had fallen into ruin and the then Archbishop, John Thoresby, ordered its demolition. The northen boundary of the monument is marked by a broad 'U' shaped depression. This is interpreted as the partially silted boundary ditch of the palace. In the western side of the monument there is a large pond cut into the rising ground to the south of the vallum. In the area between the vallum and the churchyard are a number of building platforms and the earthworks of wall lines. To the east of these building remains there are a number of broad depressions and, to the south there are a number of small quarrying scoops up to 4 metres wide. (PastScape)
"Stone from the abandoned manor at Sherburn in Elmet being offered by [bishop] Thoresby in 1363 for reuse at York Minster, though a new fortified house was built nearby at Rest Park twenty years later" (Emery–ref. Raine)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE48873365

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 54625
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is MNY10139 '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.

• Books
  • Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p168, 188
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p301
    Le Patourel, H.E. Jean, 1973, The Moated Sites of Yorkshire (The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series 5) p127
    Niemeyer, N., 1911, 'Introductory Chapter' in Rait, R.S. (ed), English Episcopal Palaces (Province of York) (London; Constable & Co) p6 http://www.archive.org/details/englishepiscopal00raitiala
• Journal Articles
  • 1910-11, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol21 p195-6
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Raine, J. (ed), 1858, Fabric Rolls of York Minster p174
• 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 ]