Frizington motte (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Arlecdon And Frizington.
In the historic county of Cumberland.
Modern Authority of Cumbria.
1974 county of Cumbria.
Medieval County of Cumberland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY03951600
Latitude 54.53145° Longitude -3.48467°

Frizington motte has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Comments

Gatehouse believes that Curwen probably was able to tell a spoil heap from a motte (although D.J.C. King does write that Curwen was 'no authority on earthworks'), although such errors do occur. Curwen source may have been Jefferson 1849. Certainly this area has hundreds of spoil heaps and something about this mound must have been different to Curwen. Frizlington does not seem to be an ancient village but a relatively modern place constructed to serve iron ore quarries and mines. The modern village centre is rather north of the focus of dwellings on the 1867 OS map. The Roman road did not follow the line of the modern road. The 1900 OS map show the line of the Roman road running for a short length across a field SW of Frizington Parks (NY039160) where a vague circular feature, with a rectangular feature within, can be seen on the air photo. This does not seem to be a quarry feature, but is most likely a pure artifice. The general location would seem unlikely for a castle but numerous 'park' place-names suggest something of high status in this area.

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1071.

Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 100
  Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carlisle: Carel Press)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 95 (possible)
  Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 39
  Collingwood, W.G., 1901, 'Remains of the pre-Norman Period' in H.Arthur Doubleday (ed), VCH Cumberland Vol. 1 p. 291 online copy
  Jefferson, S., 1849, The Antiquities of West Cumberland (Carlisle)
Periodical Articles
- Collingwood, W.G., 1923, 'An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Cumberland' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 23 p. 258 online copy

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