Mouselow Castle, Glossop

Description

Earthwork remains of a Medieval motte and bailey castle, the bailey has been almost completely quarried away and the rest of the site is damaged and confusing because of possibility of spoil heaps, but the site was moderately well described before the quarry works began. The castle is believed to be on the site of an Iron Age hillfort with triple ramparts about 350 ft external diameter. Excavations in 1963-4 (by teacher and school children) and between 1984-1985 uncovered a ditch but no dating evidence was found. The name Castle Hill dates only from the 1780's and Watson's article of 1779. This was the site of a Celtic shrine of which some inscribed stones are now in a museum. Foundations of a spiral stair were found on site and the castle may well have had masonry structures. On hill top and now well isolated from settlement, although a settlement in the bailey has been suggested. (Derived from PastScape)

Although elsewhere recorded as a motte, this monument, sometimes known as Mouselow Castle, is in fact a ringwork. It includes an oval earthwork, constructed at the summit of a steep hill, enclosed on all but the south-west side by a ditch and a substantial counterscarp bank. A bailey or outer enclosure may originally have extended to the south-west, but this area is not included in the scheduling as it has been heavily disturbed by quarrying. The central earthwork comprises an area measuring c.30m by 20m surrounded by 3m wide bank. The bank stands between lm and 1.5m above the interior but is between 3m and 4m high above the bottom of the surrounding ditch. Low, grass-covered mounds, visible on the north-west and south-east sides of the enclosed area, are interpreted as the sites of buildings. The ditch, which has a V-shaped profile, is c.6m wide and was found, by excavation, originally to have been 2.3m deep. The upcast material from the ditch was used to construct the counterscarp bank which is c.5m wide and up to 3m wide. A line of turf found within the latter indicates that it was heightened at some point and that the ditch must therefore have been recut. This shows there to have been at least two phases to the fortification of the site. The precise function of the ringwork is unknown but it commands wide views over the surrounding moorland and overlooks the confluence of Dinting Vale and the valley of the River Etherow. (Derbyshire HER ref. scheduling report 1994)

Was there really a Norman castle within this IA hillfort or was it used as the site of some sort of hunting lodge in the C13? Does not really seem to have been a place of medieval settlement. Glossop was part of the large forest of the Peak (VCH p. 397-).