Boulton (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Bolton Percy

In the civil parish of Bolton Percy.
In the historic county of Yorkshire.
Modern Authority of North Yorkshire.
1974 county of North Yorkshire.
Medieval County of Yorkshire Ainsty & York.

OS Map Grid Reference: SE53144123
Latitude 53.86466° Longitude -1.19333°

Boulton has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are no visible remains.

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

Description

In 1293 Robert Percy was issued a licence to crenellate his manor of Boulton. Of the several Boltons in Yorkshire Bolton Percy must be the most likely site for this licence and Bolton Percy was a holding of Robert Percy at this time. A C15 timber framed gatehouse probably marks the site of the manor house.

Gatehouse. C15 with later alterations including roof structure and restorations including those of late C20. Timber-framed with rendered infil, rubble and hammer-dressed magnesian limestone plinth and pantile roof with lower 3 courses of stone slates. 2 storeys, 3 bays including central carriage arch, the range to the left side derelict at time of resurvey. Close-studded frame with tension braces. Former entrance to left range has hollow-chamfered, basket-arched opening with carved spandrels. Steps to 2 further C20 fire exits to first floor within probably original openings. Present entrance by C20 studded door to rear. First floor jettied to end and sides with carved dragon posts with brattishing and carved grotesques. Windows are C20 replacements. Jettied gable end. Left range: chamfered plinth to height of 0.75 metres with 3 jowled posts and wall plate with splayed scarf joints standing, tie beam and other timbers lying on ground at time of resurvey. Interior. First floor. Jowled posts and cambered tie beams with hollow chamfers. Arch braces with Tudor rose and other carved motifs. Wall plate shows several splayed scarf joints. Trenched and collar purlin roof. (Listed Building Report)

Site of a moat and manor house identified during a desk based assessment. (North Yorkshire HER)

There are a few vestiges of a fortified hall remaining at Bolton, although such a house did at one time–the name Hall Garth is sufficient evidence–exist. The most likely site is at the north-east end of the church, a situation encompassed by a moat without difficulty. (Bogg, 1902)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1293 Feb 22 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1004905, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number ny90
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1148416
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 56509.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MNY25832; MNY17278.

Books
- Harrison, M.J., 2000, Four Ainsty Townships: the history of Bolton Percy, Appleton Roebuck, Colton and Steeton 1066-1875 (Ainsty Books)
  Ryder, P.F., 1982 (paperback edn 1992), The Medieval Buildings of Yorkshire (Ash Grove Book) p. 143
  Pevsner, N. and Radcliffe, E., 1967, Buildings of England: Yorkshire: West Riding (London, Penguin) p. 117
  Bogg, E., 1902, The old kingdom of Elmet: York and the Ainsty district a descriptive sketch of the history, antiquities, legendary lore, picturesque feature, and rare architecture. p. 278 online copy
  Speight, Harry, 1902, Lower Wharfedale (London: Elliot Stock) p. 108 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 404 online copy
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), 1895, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward I (1292-1301) Vol. 3 p. 6, 14 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Richardson, Shaun and Dennison, Ed, 2010, Bolton Percy Gatehouse, Bolton Percy, North Yorkshire: Archaeological Observation, Investigation and Recording (Ed Dennison Archaeological Services report 2009/346.R03 for The Vivat Trust) online copy
  Richardson, Shaun and Dennison, Ed, 2009, Bolton Percy Gatehouse, Bolton Percy, North Yorkshire: Initial Architectural and Archaeological Assessment(Ed Dennison Archaeological Services report 2009/346.R01 for The Vivat Trust) online copy

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.

*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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