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The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
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Wressle Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Wressill; Wreshil; Wresill

In the civil parish of Wressle.
In the historic county of Yorkshire.
Modern Authority of East Riding of Yorkshire.
1974 county of Humberside.
Medieval County of Yorkshire East Riding.

OS Map Grid Reference: SE70683154
Latitude 53.77541° Longitude -0.92912°

Wressle Castle has been described as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are major building remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Remains of a moated quadrangular castle constructed 1380-90 for Sir Henry Percy, it fell into decay by 1537 and was largely demolished in 1650 by an act of parliament, except for the south range, which was occupied until 1796. The medieval moat survives as an earthwork, with some ruins of the castle still standing. Another moat lies to the north of the first moat, originally visible as an earthwork, but levelled and visible as a cropmark on later photography. There is some suggestion of internal features within the moated enclosure. The precise square form of this moated enclosure suggests it is a formal garden moat and terraced area. (PastScape)
Comments

The south range, of two three storey towers and a intervening two storey hall range, survives to full height but is unroofed. It is clearly of totally domestic character. There is nothing to suggest the rest of the castle was significantly different in design. The presence of moated gardens show this was very much a country retreat for the Percy's easily accessible from the navigable River Derwent. The ruins are just visible from the road but are not open to the public.
Despite not generally being open to the public the excellent paper 2011 by Peter Brears and 2015 survey by Ed Dennison and Shaun Richardson of the surrounding landscape now given an excellent insight into this late medieval castle and its function as a stately home to one of the great noble families of England.
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER   Scheduling   Listing   I. O. E.
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.
*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
This record last updated 15/08/2017 15:56:47
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