Thurgarton Castle Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Thurgarton.
In the historic county of Nottinghamshire.
Modern Authority of Nottinghamshire.
1974 county of Nottinghamshire.
Medieval County of Nottinghamshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SK693490
Latitude 53.03381° Longitude -0.96791°

Thurgarton Castle Hill has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are no visible remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Situation: Castle Hill lies on the south side of Thurgarton village.
Preservation: A poorly preserved and confused, multi-phase earthwork.
Description: The earthworks comprise a three-sided rectangular, ditched enclosure, open on the north west side. Confused excavated evidence ensures that the nature of the site must remain uncertain, although there is little to support the implication of the place-name ‘Castle Hill’ and suggest defended status.
Excavation: Excavations were carried out during 1948-59 by c. Coulthard, H. Hodges, P. Gathercote and B. Wailes, revealing the following phases:
Phase I: Romano-British enclosure, dated by pottery to the 2nd/3rd century AD.
Phase II: A small mound containing fragmentary walling and a layer of ash, this phase being associated with finds of St. Neots ware.
Phase III: A mortuary chapel of two clear phases, dating respectively to the late 11th/early 12th and mid 12th century. Each phase was accompanied by burials.
Phase IV: The final phase of the mortuary chapel was dismantled to form a sheepfold.
Phase V: Two probable bronze-working furnaces on the site were dated to the mid 12th century. (Creighton 1998)

rather confused religious site. (King 1983)

Comments

Appears as rectangular site on 1884 OS map, marked 'Supposed Site of Castle' but not visible on modern aerial photo. Not separately reported in PastScape but may be part of record for Thurgarton Priory.
Castle Hill appears to be the remains of a medieval inhumation cemetery (Notts HER M17213) and a mortuary chapel (Notts HER M17214). Can certainly be rejected as a castle site, although it would be useful to know who first suggested it as such and when the site obtained the name 'Castle Hill'.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1003475, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number NT 31
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 319900.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) M1775; M17214; M17213.

Books
- King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 382 (reject)
  Stevenson, W., 1906, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Nottinghamshire Vol. 1 p. 298 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Gathercole, P.W., 1959, 'Excavations in Castle Hill, Thurgarton, 1954-5' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol. 63 p. 24-56
  Hodges, H.W.M., 1954, 'Excavations in Castle Hill, Thurgarton' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol. 58 p. 21-36
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 489 online copy

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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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