Walton Castlesteads (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castle Steed

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY512635
Latitude 54.96373° Longitude -2.76369°

Walton Castlesteads has been described as a Masonry Castle but is rejected as such.

There are earthwork remains.

Description

Huthchinson says (vol. i. p. 102) that the ancient mansion-house of Gilsland was at a place in the parish of Walton called Castle Steed, and that Gilbert Bueth dwelt here; also that the lords of Gilsland used its ruins for building Naworth Castle. But the fact is, that there is no evidence for the existence of any castle or tower here at any time: there seems to have been nothing but a Roman camp, the ramparts and ditches of which are still very apparent, and from this site many altars and Roman remains have been dug. (Mackenzie)

Hutchinson is actually quoting from a manuscript of the C17 writer Denton. It is Hutchinson that dismissed this as the site of a medieval castle. The medieval history given by Denton relates to Irthington Castle.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 12824; 1021712.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 297.

Books
- Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 303 online copy
  Hutchinson, Wm., 1794, The history of the county of Cumberland Vol. 1 p. 102-19 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Ferguson, R.S. (ed.), 1887, An Accompt of the most considerable Estates and Families in the county of Cumberland, from the conquest unto the beginning of the reign of K. James {the first} by John Denton, of Cardew (Kendal: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Tract Series 2) p. 138-39 online copy

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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.

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