Gunnerton Money Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Dungill Wood; Gunnar Peak Camp

In the civil parish of Chollerton.
In the historic county of Northumberland.
Modern Authority of Northumberland.
1974 county of Northumberland.
Medieval County of Northumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY90787575
Latitude 55.07611° Longitude -2.14591°

Gunnerton Money Hill has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

The motte and bailey castle on Money Hill is a well preserved example of a class of monument which is not common in Northumberland. It will contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the spread of Norman occupation in Britain.
The monument includes a well preserved Norman motte and bailey castle situated in a naturally defended position on the end of a promontory formed by the confluence of the Coal and Gunnerton Burns. The conical motte stands at a height of approximately 5m and measures 30m across at the base and 10m across its circular top. There is a large hollow 3m across at the top of the motte, the result of partial excavation at the end of the 19th century. The mound is surrounded by a ditch 2.5m wide. The accompanying bailey lies to the south and east of the motte and is delineated by the steep slopes of the promontory except for a length of bank at the southernmost tip of the promontory and two broad banks 7m wide, each with a ditch 1.5m across, on the north-east side which is not naturally defended. The latter earthworks are also associated with an original entrance and causeway across the ditch giving access to the motte. (Scheduling Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1011418, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 20923
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 18894.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) N9191.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- North of the Tyne
Books
- Dodds, John F., 1999, Bastions and Belligerents (Newcastle upon Tyne: Keepdate Publishing) p. 347-9
  Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 58
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 200 (slight)
  Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlisle) p. 69 (plan)
  Rowland, T.H., 1987 (reprint1994), Medieval Castles, Towers, Peles and Bastles of Northumberland (Sandhill Press) p. 7, 11
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 334
  Graham, Frank, 1976, The Castles of Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Frank Graham) p. 179
  Long, B., 1967, Castles in Northumberland Vol. 4 (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 112
  Hodgson, John Crawford (ed), 1897, Northumberland County History (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Vol. 4 p. 319 online copy
  Tomlinson, W.W., 1897, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) p. 211-2
Periodical Articles
- Hunter Blair, C.H., 1944, 'The Early Castles of Northumberland' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser4) Vol. 22 p. 116-70 esp 163-4 (plan)
  Hall, G. Rome, 1885, 'An Account of the Gunnar Peak Camp, North Tynedale, and of Excavations in the Ancient Circular and other Dwellings' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 10 p. 17
  Hall, G. Rome, 1876, 'British remains near Birtley and Barrasford' Archaeologia Aeliana (ser2) Vol. 7 p. 12 and plan 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

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.

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