Thirsk Castle

Description

Probable motte and bailey castle, built sometime between circa 1092 and 1130 and destroyed in 1176. The site then became a manor house with dovecotes and was destroyed by the Scots in 1322. From 1376 it was used as a garden. The only remains of Thirsk Castle comprise a stretch of well-spread rampart, allegedly the bailey, enclosing the probable counterscarp of a ditched motte. However, the bailey so defined is incredibly small and alternative explanations of the bank - perhaps as part of undocumented town defence - must be considered, while the motte ditch does not seem to be congruent with the motte. Elsewhere all traces of the castle have been destroyed by modern development. (PastScape)

The western rampart, the undeveloped area of the bailey and the motte of the Norman castle at Thirsk. The monument is situated on fairly level ground to the west of Market Place. The bailey rampart is located in Castle Garth and comprises an earthen bank 1.5m-2.5m in height by 140m in length with an outer ditch which, although it has become infilled over the years, is estimated to be at least 10m wide and 2m deep. The western edge of the ditch is thought to lie beneath the shallow-founded buildings and metalled areas in properties to the west of Castle Garth while, at the northern end, it runs beneath the grounds of the 19th century Masonic Hall; the southern end of the ditch and rampart are thought to have been destroyed in recent years by the construction of a new building to the rear of 15 Westgate. A small-scale excavation carried out in the 1960's recorded a section through the bank and noted an earlier cobbled surface beneath it. To the east of the rampart is an open area, measuring up to 140m long by 40m wide, which is the interior of the bailey; this contains a number of low rectangular earthworks (less than 0.3m high) which indicate the layout of building plots and gardens within the enclosure. Along the eastern edge of the bailey, a 2m deep scarp plunges into a broad ditch about 20m in width and to the east of this the ground rises to give a large mound, the top of which is roughly 3m above the surrounding land surface. Although altered over the last 100 years by building works and garden landscaping, this mound comprises a motte which was separated from the bailey by the ditch. Decorated stonework is reported to have been found during the construction of the house at Castle Villa in the 1890's. Built-up areas to the east of the motte obscure the eastern extent of the castle but, by comparison with other mottes and baileys, it is estimated that Thirsk Castle originally lay within the area bounded by Westgate, Castlegate, Kirkgate and Masonic Lane and thus it is estimated that the surviving remains represent at least half the area of the castle. Although it was once held that Thirsk Castle was built in AD 975, there is no substantive evidence for pre-Conquest foundation and it is now thought that the castle was erected by Robert de Stuteville in about 1092. Roger de Mowbray held the castle against Henry II in 1174 but in 1175 it was surrendered to the King who ordered its destruction in 1176. The de Mowbray family still held a manor on the site in the 13th century and there is a reference to the destruction of a house and dovecotes by the Scotts in 1322. For a period from 1376 Castle Garth was used as a garden but by the end of the century was laid to grass. Deeds record that in 1658 the land passed to Mr Reginald Bell. (Scheduling Report)

The excavation by MAP and the watching brief by A Clarke has provided valuable and interesting information on the early history of Thirsk. It is therefore suggested that Thirsk Castle does have a pre-Conquest origin and that what remains today is only a very minor remodelling by the the Normans of an already fortified site. (Finney 1994)