GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

How Gill Earthwork

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Howgill

In the civil parish of Castle Sowerby.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY36054016
Latitude 54.75231° Longitude -2.99509°

How Gill Earthwork has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Site of possible ringwork destroyed after 1860. Possible precursor to Castle How. (Jackson)

How Hill, which we may reasonably infer to have given name to the township in which it is situated, possesses a few remains of "days long since departed." On its summit is a circular enclosure, mounded with stone and earth, about twenty-one yards in diameter, with an opening or entrance on the south side. Large oaks have grown through the mound. (Whellen)

A ring-mound, 21 yds. in diameter, at Howgill (TCWAAS 1923).
There are no surface indications of any earthwork here, the 25" published survey (revised) is of part of a natural hillock (F1 RE 03-NOV-70). (PastScape)
Comments

Isolated location by a farmstead. Nothing visible on the location given in PastScape and there may be some question as to the accuracy of this given location. There seems to be no reason to think that Castle How had a precursor. There may well have been some sort of defensive earthwork here of some, undetermined date, but it seems unlikely it was a castle. Equally the description in Whellan might just be that of a tree stand - a deliberated constructed mound, revetted with a wall, or bank and dry stone wall, designed to keep deer from grazing on the shoots of young oak trees.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape                
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   Geology   LiDAR   Open Domesday  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
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.
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.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. 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.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.
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.
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.
This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:21:34

Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤