Amerston Hall, Embleton (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Elwick.
In the historic county of Durham.
Modern Authority of Stockton on Tees.
1974 county of Cleveland.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NZ42653015
Latitude 54.66392° Longitude -1.33937°

Amerston Hall, Embleton has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Jackson writes "NZ426293 Traditionally the site of a castle, but more probably that of a fortified manor."

Amerston Hall, site of medieval village, though no earthworks survive, medieval pottery has been found during drainage operations. The triple ditched earthworks do not appear to have a defensive or fish rearing purpose. They are almost surrounded by the remains of ridge and furrow (Brown and Still).
Possible medieval and post medieval rectilinear ditched enclosures and fishponds are visible as earthworks on air photographs taken in 1946, later photography taken in 1989 shows that the earthworks are still extant. Some of the features appear to be cut into ridge and furrow and presumably post date it. The triple ditched feature described by OS, forms an L-shape, centred at NZ 4278 3006 and has substantial broad (7-10m wide) banks between the ditches. The ditches are possibly cut into ridge and furrow and post date it and may be later garden features. There are three rectangular ponds, centred at NZ 4269 3009, these may be fishponds. These together with the ditched enclosures to the north, centred at NZ 4272 3018, may be related to medieval or post medieval settlement. (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 874070.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 641.

Books
- Jackson, M.J., 1996, Castles of Durham and Cleveland (Carlisle) p. 72
  Brown, M.M. and Still, L., 1980, Cleveland history from the air p. 26-7
  Page, Wm (ed), 1928, VCH Durham Vol. 3 p. 235- online transcription
  Surtees, R., 1816-40 (1972 Reprint), The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (London) Vol. 3 p. 53-4 online transcription

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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