Skellow, Cromwells Batteries (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Adwick Le Street.
In the historic county of Yorkshire.
Modern Authority of Doncaster.
1974 county of South Yorkshire.
Medieval County of Yorkshire West Riding.

OS Map Grid Reference: SE52981040
Latitude 53.58743° Longitude -1.20057°

Skellow, Cromwells Batteries has been described as a probable Timber Castle.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Mutilated earthwork, possible motte and bailey, or a ringwork and bailey (King 1983)

Some old batteries said traditonally to have been used by Oliver Cromwell during the destruction of Hampole Old Hall (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Object Name Book reference ONB 1904 19).
The remains of earthworks centred at SE 52381040 have been resurveyed at 1:2500. No further information was obtained from local sources apart from the continuance of the tradition mentioned in ONB. The remains are indicative of an oval or rectangular earthwork with a single bank of some strength. Only a short length survives, the remainder having been destroyed by modern development. Though its size and plan suggest a form of ring-motte, it has some similarities with a known Civil War Battery at Cornbury, Oxfordshire. (F1 RL 10-NOV-64).
A medieval motte/ post medieval battery is visible as an earthwork on air photographs at SE 5299 1043.
The motte measures 26m by 19m. None of the other features mentioned above was identified on the air photographs available to the project. (PastScape)

Motte, c.5m high, surrounded by a ditch with sections of a bailey and rampart surviving to north and west. By and large, the bailey is lost under the road (Cross Hill), but small areas survive relatively undisturbed in private gardens and adjacent land. The motte, which is the best defined of the surviving features, lies in the grounds of Skellow Old Hall. A ditch coming through the west boundary of the hall grounds, close to the motte, is interpreted as an inlet or outlet channel for the ditch. Immediately to the west of the motte, areas of the bailey survive in the gardens of Cromwell's Croft and The Cottage, and sections of the rampart can be seen along the boundary between Cromwell's Croft and Edgehill. The most substantial section of bailey and rampart lies to the north of the road, where the latter stands to a height of c.3m. This section would originally have curved round to the west and south to link with the section south of the road. Some modification of these remains is thought to have occurred during the Civil War, giving rise to the tradition that they were gun emplacements and the local name, Cromwell's Batteries. (Scheduling Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1012588, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 13214
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 56113.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 00298/01.

Books
- Hey, David, 2003, Medieval South Yorkshire (Landmark Publishing) p. 75
  Sneyd, Steve, 1995, The Devil's Logbook Castles and Fortified Sites around South Yorkshire (Hilltop Press) p. 16
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 532 (possible)
  Hey, D., 1979, The Making of South Yorkshire (Ashbourne: Moorland) p. 44
  Magilton, J.R., 1977, The Doncaster District: An Archaeological Survey (Doncaster) p. 25
Periodical Articles
- Birch, J., 1981, 'The castles and fortified houses of South Yorkshire' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 137 p. 374-6
  O'Neil, B.H.St.J., 1945, 'A Civil War Battery at Cornbury, Oxfordshire' Oxoniensia Vol. 10 p. 73-8 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 720 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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