William of Hambletons House, York

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; William Hamilton's House

In the civil parish of York. In the historic county of Yorkshire Ainsty & York (Modern Authority of York, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

Licence to crenellate issued to 'Willielmus de Hamelton, decanus ecclesiae Beati Petri Ebor' in 1302 for his house in York [mansum suum Cimeterio ejusdem ecclesiae contiguum muro de perta et calce firmare et kernellare] Presumably this was William of Hambleton who became Royal chancellor in 1305.
Musson writes 'In 1280 Hamilton was given a house in York which had belonged to the notorious moneylender, Aaron the Jew (d. 1268). From 1285 he was himself engaged in moneylending enterprises (sometimes with his brother Adam), manipulating conveyances of land and realizing considerable profits.' If this was the house licenced then it would have already been defendable but further work to make this a strong house could have occurred.
The licence may also be seen as a response of some sort to the licence granted to Joan of Caen for his house in York in 1298.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE602522

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

Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular '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, or elsewhere.

• Books
  • A. J. Musson, ‘Hamilton, William (d. 1307)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12133, accessed 20 Nov 2007]
    Tillott, P.M. (ed), 1961, 'The twelfth and thirteenth centuries: The aspect of the city', VCH Yorkshire: the City of York p51-4 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=36324
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2
• Journal Articles
  • Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100 [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 (1301-7) p19