Kirkbymoorside no 2 (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Kirkbymoorside.
In the historic county of Yorkshire.
Modern Authority of North Yorkshire.
1974 county of North Yorkshire.
Medieval County of Yorkshire North Riding.

OS Map Grid Reference: SE693870
Latitude 54.27397° Longitude -0.93730°

Kirkbymoorside no 2 has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Kirkby Moorside No. 2 SE 693870. Traces of what may have been an earlier castle. (V.C.H. (NR), i, 511.). (King 1983 p. 531)

East of the market-place is the church of All Saints, behind which are the ruins of the fortress of the Stutevills. In 1282 the park appurtenant to it was a league in circuit and contained seven score beasts. The moat of the castle can still be traced on Vivers Hill, a name possibly a corruption of 'Vivaria'; the ponds here which once supplied the town with water were popularly called 'Bibbers.'
The old toll-booth in the market-place was built in the 18th century of materials taken from the ruins of another castle at the north end of the town. The present toll-booth contains two large rooms and is used for various public purposes. This castle was the hunting-box of the Nevills, Earls of Westmorland and lords of Kirkby Moorside, during the Tudor period. It was described in 1570 as 'but symple for an erle, but a good house for a gentleman of worshipp.' The park was then 2 miles in circuit and 'well replenyshed with fallow deere.' (VCH)

Comments

Gatehouse is uncertain what King was referring to but it is seems not to be Neville Castle at Manor Garth or Stutevilles Castle at Vivars Hill which he separately mentions. In this context this would be a castle earlier than the Vivar's Hill castle. He rejects the Neville Castle writing "a later structure has been excavated, and appears to have been of early 16th cty. date, and not genuinely fortified." (King 1983 p. 520). However it is possible that King was referring to the Neville castle and his references separated by some pages (and possibly derived from different working notes possibly made many years apart) have lead him and/or me into some confusion. His given map reference is certainly close to the Neville Castle and should exclude the Vivar's Hill site. The Neville Castle is a site that has been broken up and damaged by later quarrying which makes it difficult to understand on the ground.
Doubtful as a third 'early' castle in Kirkby Moorside.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 531 (possible)
  Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH Yorkshire: North Riding Vol. 1 p. 511 online transcription

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