Castle Hill, Girsby

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Low Dinsdale

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

Butler suggests a low mound here is a potential castle site. He writes it as being at Low Dinsdale but his map places it in Girsby. Castle Hill is a promontory of land steeply sided on three sides. No mound is marked on the map or recorded in PastScape, however a medieval moat, formerly considered a Roman signal station, is recorded in a position near to but off the hill at NZ36720951. The North Yorkshire HER records a 'Ring Ditch' at NZ366093. This is clearly not a major manorial centre but could be the site of a farmstead of a type worth a part of a knight's fee and which, in the welsh marches, are sometime marked by a small motte and a castle placename. Is the modern farm on the site of possible medieval buildings.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ368093

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 25519
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is MNY13440 '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.

• Journal Articles
  • Butler, Lawrence, 1992, 'The Origins of the Honour of Richmond and its Castles' Chateau-Gallard Vol16 p69-80 [Reprinted in Liddiard, Robert, (ed), 2003, Anglo-Norman Castles (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)]