Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1004591
- Date first listed:
- 17-Mar-1966
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1004591
- Date first listed:
- 17-Mar-1966
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Cumberland (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Hayton
- National Grid Reference:
- NY 50687 57839
Summary
Castle Hill.
Reasons for Designation
Ringworks are medieval fortifications built and occupied from the late Anglo-Saxon period to the later 12th century. They comprised a small defended area containing buildings which was surrounded or partly surrounded by a substantial ditch and a bank surmounted by a timber palisade or, rarely, a stone wall. Occasionally a more lightly defended embanked enclosure, the bailey, adjoined the ringwork. Ringworks acted as strongholds for military operations and in some cases as defended aristocratic or manorial settlements. They are rare nationally with only 200 recorded examples and less than 60 with baileys. As such, and as one of a limited number and very restricted range of Anglo-Saxon and Norman fortifications, ringworks are of particular significance to our understanding of the period.
Castle Hill is reasonably well-preserved as an earthwork and is representative of its period. The monument will contain archaeological deposits relating to its construction, use and abandonment and environmental deposits relating to the use of the surrounding landscape. The monument provides insight into the character of fortification during the earlier medieval period.
History
See Details.
Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 24 March 2016.This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.
The monument includes the remains of a ringwork of medieval date, situated on a broad ridge. The monument has been created by scarping of a slight natural hillock to both enhance the mound and to create the ringwork or circular bank with a dished interior.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- CU 347
- Legacy System:
- RSM - OCN
Sources
Other
PastScape Monument No:- 12526
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 05-Jun-2026 at 22:01:10.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.