Roos Castle

Description

The moated site of Roos Castle. It includes a sub-rectangular central island surrounded by a single moat and two fishponds: one within the moat, one external to it. The raised island is 100m long, north-south, and 70m wide. An internal bank survives along the northern edge of the island; it is 1m high and 5m wide. A fishpond extends into the island on its eastern edge. This is 15m long, 7m wide, and 1.5m deep. Its eastern end opens onto the eastern arm of the moat. Earthwork remains survive on the island to the north of the fishpond. Stone foundations have, in the past, been exposed by stock poaching and been recorded in this part of the site. Both earthworks and foundations indicate the survival of structural remains on the island. The northern arm of the moat remains waterlogged. It is 45m long, 12m wide and 3m deep. The condition and size of this arm differ greatly from the other arms; it has been remodelled and retained in use as a pond. Both the north- eastern and north-western corners of the moat have been in-filled, isolating the northern arm and thereby creating the pond. The southern, western and eastern arms of the moat are 15m wide and 1.5m to 1.75m deep. There has been partial in-filling of the moat at its south-western corner. An earthen bank survives outside the western arm of the moat: it is 1m high and 7m wide. This bank also encloses the fishpond to the south of the moat. Here, also, it is 1m high, although its full width cannot be ascertained as it has been truncated to the south by the excavation of a drainage ditch. The heavily silted fishpond enclosed by this bank is situated adjacent to the southern arm of the moat. It is 15m wide and now only 0.3m deep. The visible section measures 40m in length and its eastern end has been in-filled. This moat was the site of the ancestral home of the Roos family who held extensive tracts of land in Yorkshire and who built Helmsley Castle in North Yorkshire. (Scheduling Report)