Weardale House Mound, St John's Chapel (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Snap; Ireshopeburn

In the civil parish of Stanhope.
In the historic county of Durham.
Modern Authority of Durham.
1974 county of County Durham.
Medieval County of County Palatinate of Durham.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY87123849
Latitude 54.74121° Longitude -2.20156°

Weardale House Mound, St John's Chapel has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

(NY 87123849) "Large mound, possible a barrow. Local tradition that 'a King was buried there'." (Annotated Record Map EJW Hildyard April 1955).
A grass and tree covered mound measuring 62 by 40m. overall and with a maximum height of 4m, the near flat top measuring 24 by 14m. A stoney construction is visible in the sides. The dimensions and situation of the mound suggest that it is unlikely to be a tumulus, but more probably a motte. There are no traces of a ditch or bailey (F1 DS 24-JUN-57).
This mound, which is oval in shape and situated at the foot of sloping ground, is not a barrow nor does it resemble a motte. It has the appearance of a natural feature and is not all that different to other slightly smaller elongated undulations to the south east. The stone construction referred to by F1 is modern (F2 BHP 02-OCT-74)
On the basis of the mound's orientation and dimensions Young suggests it may be a long barrow. He further states it is not a spoil heap or a glacial feature (Young). A natural feature with nothing to suggest that it has ever been utilised as a barrow or a motte (F3 ISS 9-OCT-79). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 16075.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) D2259.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 63 (slight)
  Jackson, M.J., 1996, Castles of Durham and Cleveland (Carlisle) p. 67
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 139 (possible)
Periodical Articles
- 1980, Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Vol. 5 p. 11
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Constable, Christopher, 2003, Aspects of the archaeology of the castle in the north of England C 1066-1216 (Doctoral thesis, Durham University) Available at Durham E-Theses Online
  Young, R., 1975, Inventory of Barrows in Co Durham (Typescript)

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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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