Bakewell Castle Hill (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Bakewell.
In the historic county of Derbyshire.
Modern Authority of Derbyshire.
1974 county of Derbyshire.
Medieval County of Derbyshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SK22116878
Latitude 53.21563° Longitude -1.67031°

Bakewell Castle Hill has been described as a certain Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Castle Hill had been thought to be the site of the burh of Edward the Elder documented in 902. However, excavations between 1969 and 1971 found no evidence of occupation on the site prior to the Conquest. The site rather represents a motte and bailey, possibly with intermittent occupation. (PastScape)

Preliminary investigation by M. Swanton of the Castle Hill earthwork popularly identified with Edward the Elder's burh of 923 indicated a construction of two periods. Some time during the 12th century a 'motte' had been erected to strengthen a rubble rampart (probably square in plan) of earlier but undetermined date. (Med. Arch.)

Comments

Unusually in being some distance from the church and other side of river from village. It may be that the geographical restrictions limited the sites available for the castle for a lord without either the power of will to destroy houses in the village. The VCH suggests that the inhabitants of the village were mainly Danish. Therefore, the Saxon centre of administration might have developed after the village had been built and been pushed out to the edge, The motte is clearly Norman but I wonder if the site does occupy a small thegnal burh (of a sort not looked for by the earlier investigators. see also Bakewell Burh). (NB., since writing this early in 2010 I've read Davies-Pyrce's 1904 critic of Ella Armitage's work where he makes much the same point, although, I believe wrongly, attributing the motte to the Saxons. - Philip Davis 12-7-2010)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1013543, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 23304
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 311186.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 820.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- CastleUK.net
Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 14
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 52 (slight)
  Smith, Michael E., 1992, Castles and Manor Houses in and around Derbyshire (Derby)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 108
  Hart, C.R., 1981, The North Derbyshire Archaeological Survey to AD1500 (Derbyshire Archaeological Trust) p. 143, 145
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 182
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 97
  Stenton, Frank Merry; edited by Doris Mary Stenton, 1970, Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England being the collected papers of Frank Merry Stenton Vol. 1943 p. 330-32
  Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p. 47 online copy
  Cox, J.C., 1905, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Derbyshire Vol. 1 p. 376 online copy
  Armitage, Ella S., 1905, A key to English antiquites with special reference to the Sheffield and Rotherham district (London: J.M. Dent and Co) p. 56-7 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Speight, Sarah, 2008, 'Castles as Past Culture: Living with Castles in the Post-Medieval World' Château Gaillard Vol. 23 p. 385-94 (slight)
  Swanton, M.J., 1972, 'Castle Hill, Bakewell' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 92 p. 16-26 online copy
  (Swanton), 1970, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 14 p. 175 download copy
  Brown, R. Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' The English Historical Review Vol. 74 p. 249-280 (Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 90-121) view online copy (subscription required)
  Davies Pyrce, T., 1905, 'The Alleged Norman Origin of 'Castles' in England' The English Historical Review Vol. 20 p. 707 online copy
  Armitage, Ella, 1905, 'The Alleged Norman Origin of 'Castles' in England' The English Historical Review Vol. 20 p. 714 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Dave Barrett, Gill Stroud, 2009, Extensive Urban Survey - Derbyshire (English Heritage) Download copy
  Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 330-1 online 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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