Crosby on Eden 'motte' (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Stanwix Rural.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY44805959
Latitude 54.92793° Longitude -2.86288°

Crosby on Eden 'motte' has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

The church was built in 1854 by RH Billings totally replacing a Medieval church on the same site. The present church has a two and half storey tower, a four bay nave and a single bay chancel. Supposedly built with stone from Hadrian's Wall. Jackson suggests that the church is built on the site of a motte, there being a distinct oval mound 2.0m high and a crescentic mound in the churchyard. The Norman font in the church, which suggests a contemporary church, suggests that the motte would have been on a nearby site. However, the church at Beaumont is built on a Norman motte, so the same could be the case here. (PastScape)

Comments

Whilst a motte is not impossible alternative mounds are also possible. It was deliberate policy of the early church to found churches near sites of pagan worship or value such as burial mounds and this location, on the Roman Stanegate is not impossible for a burial mound of Roman or early Saxon origin. Even in a culturally neutral site it is usual for churches to be built on local high spots and Cumbria has numerous glacial mounds. The evidence for this supposed motte is slight. Mounds in churchyards can also represent spoil, built up over time, from grave digging. The rather unusual situation at Beaumont has probably triggered a somewhat fanciful interpretation of this site.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1119613
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 11413.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 3806 (church).

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Visit Cumbria (church only)
  Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 97 (slight)
  Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 83
  Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carlisle: Carel Press) p. 50
  Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p. 113

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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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