Reasons for Designation
Motte and bailey castles are medieval fortifications introduced into Britain
by the Normans. They comprised a large conical mound of earth or rubble, the
motte, surmounted by a palisade and a stone or timber tower. In a majority of
examples an embanked enclosure containing additional buildings, the bailey,
adjoined the motte. Motte castles and motte-and-bailey castles acted as
garrison forts during offensive military operations, as strongholds, and, in
many cases, as aristocratic residences and as centres of local or royal
administration. Built in towns, villages and open countryside, motte and
bailey castles generally occupied strategic positions dominating their
immediate locality and, as a result, are the most visually impressive
monuments of the early post-Conquest period surviving in the modern landscape.
Over 600 motte castles or motte-and-bailey castles are recorded nationally,
with examples known from most regions. As one of a restricted range of
recognised early post-Conquest monuments, they are particularly important for
the study of Norman Britain and the development of the feudal system. Although
many were occupied for only a short period of time, motte castles continued to
be built and occupied from the 11th to the 13th centuries, after which they
were superseded by other types of castle.
Details
Castle Hill is situated on a hill overlooking the village of Bardsey cum
Rigton. The monument includes the remains of the motte and part of the
surrounding bailey.
The motte is of an unusual form, consisting of two roughly rectangular
platforms on an east-west alignment joined by a central causeway. Ditches
flank the causeway which is c.8m wide. The motte itself measures c.100m long
by c.30m wide and varies between 1m and 2m high. Partial excavations carried
out in the late nineteenth century and in 1930 revealed the foundations of a
square stone keep and pottery dating to the late twelfth or early thirteenth
century. The motte is situated at the centre of a flat oval bailey whose
scarped edge, in the medieval period, would have been crowned by a wall or,
more likely, a timber palisade. Beyond the scarp lay a 20m wide berm
surrounded by an outer ditch, part of which survives on the east side of the
site. Beyond this would have lain an outer bailey but this has now largely
been built over. Platforms on the east side of the site indicate the presence
of ancillary buildings within the bailey. These are overlain by ridge and
furrow, the remains of medieval ploughing, showing that the site was abandoned
early in its history.
The pottery recovered from the site, which dates only from c.1175 to c.1200,
also indicates that the period of occupation was short. Almost certainly, the
castle was built by Adam de Bruce, an important North Yorkshire baron, who was
granted the manor of Bardsey shortly after 1175 as part-compensation for the
loss of his estates around Danby. The de Bruce family petitioned continually
for the return of their northern lands and were finally successful in 1201.
The manor of Bardsey then reverted to the Crown and was subsequently granted
to the monks of Kirkstall Abbey. The castle would have been abandoned at about
this time, having been in use for only a quarter of a century.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling. These are the stable
and its concrete raft, the stiles on the Public Right of Way and the modern
walls and fences around and crossing the site. The ground beneath these
features is, however, included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
13292
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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.
End of official list entry
