Castles in the Lune Valley

There is a significant cluster of motte and bailey castles of early Norman date in the Lune Valley, north Lancashire, as well as a number of other castles. Below are details concerning ten castle sites through the Lune Valley. The sites selected comprise seven motte and bailey castles and three stone castles (See Table 1 below). Please note that these sites are not publicly accessible unless this is stated elsewhere.

Earthwork castles in Lancashire can be divided into two groups. Firstly there are those that are well-preserved, where both the motte and bailey are identifiable and which are not occupied by later structures. These comprise Castle Hill, Halton; Castle Stede, Hornby and Castle Hill, Burton in Lonsdale. Secondly there are a series of poorly preserved mottes with buildings immediately adjacent and which have suffered significant disturbance. These sites are at Arkholme, Melling, Whittington and Dolphinholme.

A motte is an earthen mound in the shape of a flat-topped cone, constructed for defensive purposes but not intended for long-term occupation. It was usually surrounded by a ditch and palisade and surmounted by a wooden tower protected by a second palisade. They are normally (but not always) accompanied by a bailey, an earthwork enclosure defended by a ditch, bank and palisade where there were houses for the lord and his men-at-arms, stabling, storehouses, etc. and where day-to-day life went on. Contemporary illustrations of their construction and use in warfare are seen on the Bayeux Tapestry. In England motte and bailey castles are mainly associated with the Norman pacification of the country following the Conquest and the civil war between Stephen and Matilda c.1138-1153, although there is evidence that a very small number of mottes were of late Saxon construction. In the case of the Lancashire, or more specifically the Lune valley, dating evidence is slim or absent with the single exception of Castle Hill, Burton in Lonsdale.

The Sites

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References

(1) Barker, P, Higham, R A 2000 Hen Domen, Montgomery: A Timber Castle on the English - Welsh Border, A Final Report Exeter, University of Exeter
(2) English Heritage nd, Schedule of Ancient Monuments Unpublished (but county lists and individual site extracts distributed to relevant authorities from time to time, copies held in the LSMR, below)
(3) English Heritage (Leach, P E) 1988a, Monuments Protection Programme Monument Class Description: Motte and Bailey Castles URL: http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/mbc.htm* Accessed 22 May 2002
(4) English Heritage (Leach, P E) 1988b, Monuments Protection Programme Monument Class Description: Ringworks URL: http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/ring.htm* Accessed 22 May 2002
(5) Farrer, W, Brownbill, J, Eds 1901-1912 (Republished 1992-6), Victoria County History for Lancashire, 8 Vols London, Dawsons
(6) Gibbs-Smith, C H 1973 The Bayeux Tapestry London, Phaidon
(7) Grant, A 1985, Lancaster Castle in the Middle Ages Lancaster, Lancaster University
(8) Higham, M C 1991, The Mottes of North Lancashire, Lonsdale and South Cumbria Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol.91 pp.79-90
(9) Morris, M 2003, Castles, London, Pan Macmillan
(10) Platt, C 1976, The English Medieval Town London, Martin Secker & Warburgh
(11) Thompson, M W 1991, The Rise of the Castle Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
(12) White, A J, 1975, Lancaster Castle Contrebis Vol.3 No.1
(13) White, A J, 1985-6 Some Notes on Medieval Hornby Contrebis Vol.12, pp.1-7
(14) White, A J 1993, A History of Lancaster 1193-1993 Keele, Ryburn Publishing
(15) Whittaker, T D 1823 The History of Richmondshire Vol.2 London, Longman

Copyright

Mapping in this study is reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. OS licence LA076176. Other data sets, including aerial photographs, are copyright © to Lancashire County Council unless otherwise credited.

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