Papcastle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Pabcastre; Papscastle; Pipards; Pipers; Palme

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

OS Map Grid Reference: NY10963149
Latitude 54.67059° Longitude -3.38215°

Papcastle has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such, and also as a Masonry Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Supposed castle site within Roman fort.
William Jackson states ' I have little doubt that Papcastle is indebted for its to (Gilbert) Pipard, who was likely to erect a fortress on the site of the old Roman town, where stone was convenient and the position good'.
Excavations in 1912, 1961/2 and 1976. No evidence to suggest a castle was here and the 'castle' probably relates to the Roman fort. (Perriam and Robinson 1998)

More interestingly is the root of the name Papcastle; the caester which has become 'castle' in the modern name, denotes the Roman fort at the point where the road running south-west from Carlisle branches north-west to Maryport. The first element can hardly be other than the Old Norse word 'papi' or hermit. The Romano-British name of Papcastle was Derventio from the river on which it stands, the Derwent. Birley (1963) believes that this is a clear indication that when the Norse settlers first came to the district there was only a solitary hermit living among the ruins of the Roman fort. By the same token he feels it serves to discredit the popular tradition that Papcastle takes its name from Gilbert Pipard who was said to have built his castle there.
Whellan (1860) notes that the fort stood on the summit of the hill and that traces of the road to Maryport were still visible. He comments, “the new road from Cockermouth is cut through a portion of the field where the castrum stood.” Castrum (or castle) may mean either the Roman fort or the later medieval castle of Gilbert Pipard, which is alleged to have stood on the hill at Papcastle. Whellan suggested that the Normans chose this site because of the ready availability of dressed Roman stone (ibid). However there is no archaeological evidence for a medieval castle being here.
Gilbert de Pipard, Sheriff of Lancaster acquired the manor by marriage and reputedly erected a stone fortress on the site of the Roman fort using the stones of the fort (Jackson, 1990). In 1192 he held the forest of Allerdale and it is at this time that he is thought to have built Pipard or Pap Castle (Curwen, 1911). However, there is no archaeological evidence to support this theory. (Extensive Urban Survey 2006)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1007760, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 22499
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 9491.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 5652.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Old Cumbria Gazetteer
Books
- Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 22
  Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carlisle: Carel Press) p. 48
  Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p. 134-5
Periodical Articles
- 1974, Country Life Vol. 156 p. 146
  Charlesworth, D.A., 1965, 'Excavations at Papcastle 1961-62' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 65 p. 102-114 online copy
  Birley, E., 1963, 'Roman Papcastle' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 63 p. 112, 121 online copy
  Collingwood, R.G., 1913, 'Report of the Excavations at Papcastle, 1912' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 13 p. 131-141 online copy
  Jackson, Wm, 1878-9, 'An Historical and Descriptive Account of Cockermouth Castle' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 4 p. 113 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- English Heritage, 2006, Extensive Urban Survey - Cumbria (Cumbria County Council) Download copy

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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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