Maurholme Manor (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Wharton; Morhull; Mirhull; Mourholme; Merhull; Halstead; Halsteads; Dock Acres Farm

In the civil parish of Warton.
In the historic county of Lancashire.
Modern Authority of Lancashire.
1974 county of Lancashire.
Medieval County of Lancashire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SD515724
Latitude 54.14513° Longitude -2.74395°

Maurholme Manor has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a certain Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Alleged sites of a motte and bailey castle, manor house and Maurholme Park. Excavations in 1975 revealed that most of the site had been quarried away and all that was found was C13-C14 pottery and a gold ring mounted with an uncut diamond. (PastScape)

The site of the Castle of Merhull and manor house of Maurholme had been identified with an island-type feature south of Dock Acres. At one corner of the island there is a circular mound and at there is an irregular oval known as Halsteads. Only the traces of a mortared rubble wall surround these two features, but on one side of mound at a lower level, are foundations of an extensively robbed freestone wall set in mortar. The castle of Merhull, whose keep may be identified with mound, was surrendered by Gilbert Fitz Reinfred to King John in 1216 (Rot Cart AD 1216 Memb 2 in dorso). The manor house of Maurholme, mentioned about 1246 and last recorded circa 1435, seems to have stood on or near the freestone wall enclosing area.
Renn interpreted Floyer's alleged castle site as a "much altered motte and bailey with retaining walls". (Floyer; Renn).
A park at Maurholme existed long before 1340 (The field names Little Park and Great Park are shown on Floyer's plan at SD 513725) (VCH).
The "island" feature shown on Floyer's plan is visible on OS air photographs, but no trace of the alleged motte and bailey castle or manor house site can be seen (APs (OS/68/188 169-71 9.6.68)).
Continuing excavation on the site of Mourholme Manor, revealed but mostly destroyed during gravel extraction in 1975. The edge of the gravel mound on which the manor had been situated was examined, all structural remains had been quarried away. 13th to 14th century pottery and a gold ring mounted with an uncut diamond accord with documentary evidence for the date of the occupation of the manor (Med. Arch. 21). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 43067; 43057.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Matthew Emmott's Castle Blog
Books
- Grimsditch, Brian, Nevell, Michael and Nevell, Richard, 2012, Buckton Castle and the Castles of the North West England (University of Salford Archaeological Monograph 2) p. 110
  Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 36
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 249, Vol. 2 p. 564
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 199
  Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancashire Vol. 8 p. 162 online transcription
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Farrer, W., 1902, Lancashire Pipe Rolls and Early Lancashire Charters (Liverpool) p. 258n1 online copy
  Whitaker, T.D., 1823, A History of Richmondshire in the North Riding of the County of York (London) Vol. 2 p. 290-2 online copy
Periodical Articles
- 1978, Lancashire Archaeological Journal Vol. 1
  Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, 'Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 21 p. 252 online copy
  Brown, R. Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' The English Historical Review Vol. 74 p. 249-280 (Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 90-121) view online copy (subscription required)
  Floyer, J.K., 1906-7, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London Vol. 21 p. 413-419
  Sharpe, 1868, The Archaeological Journal Vol. 25 p. 343 online copy
  Hutchinson, William, 1789, 'Account of antiquities in Lancashire. In a letter to George Allan, Esq. From William Hutchinson, Esq.' Archaeologia Vol. 9 p. 217 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Farrer, Wm (ed), 1902, Lancashire Pipe Rolls and Early Lancashire Charters (Liverpool) p. 258 online copy
  Hardy, T.D. (ed), 1835, Rotuli de oblatis et finibus in Turri Londinensi asservati (Record Commission) p. 571 online copy
  Farrer, Wm (ed), 1907, Lancashire Inquests, Ertents, and Feudal Aids Part II 1310-1333 (Record Society for the Publication of Original Documents relating to Lancashire and Cheshire) p. 164-5 online copy
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

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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.

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