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Bishopton Castle Hill
Also known as, or recorded in historical
documents as; Castle Holl; Biscoptun
In the civil parish of Bishopton.
In the historic county of Durham; County Palatinate of (Modern Authority of Darlington, 1974 county of County Durham).
This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle. |
|
This site was certainly a medieval fortification or palace. |
|
Earthworks remains. |
Castle Hill consists of a motte some 38ft high, surrounded by a ditch and outer bank, flanked by two lines of lower banks on the west and a single line on the east. In about 1800 the motte measured 60ft high. The earthworks are complex and well-preserved with a bailey to the south which itself appears to be divided into inner and outer wards. A rectangular area on the north of the motte would also appear to have been enclosed by a bank. The whole motte and bailey is surrounded by a much larger area of low lying ground. Two causeways run across this area to the motte from the east and north-west. A stream to the west of the earth works would presumably have been used to flood this area should the occasion arise. Aerial photographs appear to show evidence for other buildings within the 'ward' areas. Sometimes cited as being been given a licence to crenellate in 1143, but Roger de Conyers was chief supporter of Bishop William de Santa Barbara against usurpation by William Comyn in 1143, so more a fortification by necessity than by consent.
A supposed Durham licence
to crenellate was
granted in 1143.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ36662089
This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is
25795
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly
Sites and Monuments Record) number is D335 '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
- Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern) p19
Jackson, M.J., 1996, Castles of Durham and Cleveland (Carlise) p18-9 [plan]
Dodds. G.L., 1996. Historic Sites of County Durham, (Sunderland), 30-2
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p26
Corfe, Tom (ed), 1992, 'The Visible Middle Ages' in An Historical Atlas of County Durhan p28-9
Proud, K., 1990. The Prince Bishops of Durham (Durham) p14
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p134
Hugill, Robert, 1979, The Castles and Towers of the County of Durham (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p37
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Page, Wm (ed), 1928, VCH Durham Vol3 p213
Page, Wm (ed), 1907, VCH Durham Vol2 p141-2
Gould, Chalkley, 1905, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Durham Vol1 p353-4
Boyle,J.R., 1892, Comprehensive Guide to the County of Durham: its Castles, Churches, and Manor-Houses (London) p162-3
Surtees, R., 1816 [1972 Reprint], History and Antiquities of Durham (London) Vol3 p67
Brayley, E. and Britton, J., 1803, Beauties of England and Wales; Durham Vol5 p97-8
Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol1 p195-6; Vol3 p195-7
- Journal Articles
- 1883-4, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle Vol1 p75-6 [where taken for a barrow]
- Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents
- This section is far from complete and the secondary
sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Arnold, T. (ed), 1882-5, Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia (London: Records Society No75) Vol1 p150, Vol2 p314
Most of the sites or buildings
recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public
and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner
or tenant. |
The information on this web page
may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English
Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources
given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder
and permission obtained from them before use of the information
on this site for commercial purposes. I do
not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by
John Kenyon for the Council
for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
|
It is an offence to disturb a
Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of
everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site
without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation. |
Please help me to make this as
useful a resource as possible by contacting
me if you see errors
or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with
this site. |
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