Keld Tute Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Muker.
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: NY893011
Latitude 54.40579° Longitude -2.16618°

Keld Tute Hill has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

Description

Site of a possible motte consisting of a 20m square top promontory, with a shallow ditch up to 12m wide. It is currently overlain by a modern enclosure. The 1857 Ordnance Survey records the Site of Tute Hill here, and nearby at NY 8927 0107 a building known as 'Starling (?) Castle' is recorded. This site is also in the centre of the medieval settlement of Keld and on an important junction in the transport infrastructure of the Yorkshire Wolds. (PastScape)

"Keld, Kisdon. North bank, south-west of limestone cliff, south of enclosure on hillcrest, with drystone enclosure on site, 20m square top promontory, with shallow ditch evident round north and north-north-east. South-west corner built up to within 1.5m of top and other indications of enclosing bank. Medieval?".
Site listed as a possible medieval motte with the ditch up to 12m wide. A modern enclosure occupies the site. (Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority)

Comments

Area of lead mining and many spoil tips in area. Jackson was unable to find the site although there has been some confusion over map references.
Keld was a township in the manor of Mukar, the last significant settlement in Yorkshire on this route into Westmorland. High up Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales it can not have been a wealthy area, although there was hunting (Wild deer and wolves survived in the area in the middle ages), and some lead mining perhaps from the C13. This can not have been the manorial centre for the manor of Mukar. If this was a motte it may have functioned as a toll post on a drover route over the Pennies, although it is difficult to see how the funds raised would have covered the costs of a 'garrison' and site maintenance.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 15897.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MYD2449.

Books
- Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlisle) p. 34
  Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH Yorkshire: North Riding Vol. 1 p. 236-45 (tenurial history) online copy
Periodical Articles
- Moorhouse, S., 1977, 'The Yorkshire Archaeological Register: 1976' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 49 p. 11

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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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