Slingsby Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

Ruins of country house built in the early 17th century for Sir Charles Cavendish, probably by John Smythson, on the site of an earlier building which was granted a licence to crenellate in 1344 and relicenced in 1474. The building is oblong in plan with corner projections, built of limestone with ashlar dressings. It was slighted during the Civil War. The remains of a moat survive as earthworks, though the east side is much mutilated and covered with allotments. (PastScape)

Ruins of Slingsby Castle 25.1.54 GV II Ruins of country house. 1620s. For Sir Charles Cavendish, probably by John Smythson. Limestone rubble brought to course, ashlar dressings. Oblong on plan with corner projections. Originally 2 storeys, 5 bays, with projecting stair turrets to angles. Window openings with quoined jambs under tooled triangular pediments. Remains of first-floor cornice with decorated band. Corner turrets and parts of side walls surviving to 2 storeys in places. This building was probably never finished as Sir Charles Cavendish fled to the continent with his brother the Duke of Newcastle, in 1644. (Listed Building Report)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1344 Jan 28 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1474 April 17.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1004178, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number ny373
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1149761
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 58548.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MNY1051.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Charles Taylor's ecastles
  CastleUK.net
  The Slingsby Village Website
  Abaroth's World
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 10, 375, 477, 479
  Turner, Maurice, 2004, Yorkshire Castles: Exploring Historic Yorkshire (Otley: Westbury Publishing) p. 247
  Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlisle) p. 76-7 (plan)
  Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 99
  Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p. 106-7
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 421-422
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 301 (slight)
  Rushton, J., 1986 (2edn), The Ryedale Story: a Yorkshire Countryside Handbook (Ryedale District Council)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 526
  Le Patourel, H.E. Jean, 1973, The Moated Sites of Yorkshire (The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series 5) p. 120-1
  Pevsner, N., 1966, Buildings of England: Yorkshire: North Riding (London, Penguin) p. 346-7
  Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH Yorkshire: North Riding Vol. 1 p. 558-9 online transcription
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Brooke, A. StC., 1904, Slingsby and Slingsby Castle esp. p. 140-52
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 265-6 online copy
  Whellan T, 1859, History and topography of the city of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol. 2 p. 884-5 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 414 online copy
  Grainge, W., 1855, Castles and Abbeys of Yorkshire p. 243-6 online copy
Periodical Articles
- 1962, Architectural History Vol. 5 p. 35, 82, 94, 148-9
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1902, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1343-45) Vol. 6 p. 190 online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1927, Calendar of Charter Rolls 5 Henry VI - 8 Henry VIII, AD 1427-1516, with an appendix, 1215-1288 Vol. 6. (HMSO) p. 243 online copy
  Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) (lists sources for 1272-1422) p. 499
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk Yorkshire Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 43 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk Yorkshire Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 51 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 Yorkshire (London: English Heritage) p. 59 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 Yorkshire (London: English Heritage) p. 60 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 80 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 75 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 80 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 89 online copy
  Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 624-5 online copy

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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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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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