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Protected Status

• Registered Park or Garden (II*) GD 2057: Aldby Park

Monument Type(s):

• CASTLE? (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
• GARDEN FEATURE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• GARDEN TERRACE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Other References/Statuses

• AMIE Reference / HOB UID: 1148991

Full description

Originally a wooden Norman castle later converted to stone then left to delapidation. Site now occupied by modern house. Two earthworks representing part of the bailey are all that remain (1)
An article discussing the licences granted to crenellate in Yorkshire was included in Medieval Yorkshire in 2017. Buttercrambe Castle is listed in the gazeteer with the date of the licence as 2nd March 1201. (Davis, P) (2) Further information can be found on the website for the Gatehouse Gazeteer. The earthworks of the bailey are within Alby Park and have been extensively landscaped making an accurate interpretation difficult. (Davis, P) (2,3)
A study examining the archaeological and documentary evidence for the earthwork was carried out as part of research into the historic gardens as Aldby Park by the Yorkshire Gardens Trust. The earthwork apeared to have developed in three phases beginning as a single mound. There is no evidence to connect the site with King Edwin and the earthwork has been maintained as a garden feature for at least four hundred years. The original mound may be older and possibly prehistoric in date. The earthwork is about 100m long with a central height of about 3m. It is level in the middle and 10m wide but rises to rounded peaks at either end. A shallow flat bottomed ditch divided into three sections by causeways lies at the base of the earthwork on the south-west and south-east sides and a hollow lies on the north east side. The first phase appears to be the construction of a tall, circular flat topped mound followed by the addition of the lower elongated bank on the south-east side. The third phase was the construction of the smaller oval mound on top of the bank at the south-west end. The earthworks were not thought to be defensive, however a detailed earthwork survey was recommended. Some documentary evidence exists for a fortification in the manor of Buttercrambe. The earliest date the earthwork appeared on a map is 1633 since when it has remained largely unchanged. (Pearson, T; Gates, T) (4)
Further research into the site took place in 2021 alongside a measured earthwork survey with a detailed description and analysis of the earthworks. The monument was described in its four main component parts, the large round mound at the north west end, the flat topped bank, the smaller oval mound at the south east end and the outer ditch. Its origins are discussed, it can’t be ruled out that the mound may have been an older monument re-worked as a Norman Castle. The earthwork survey has enhanced our understanding of the site and provided valuable new information regarding its origins and main stages of development. It has confirmed that the earliest upstanding component of the monument was a large round mound which was added to and enhanced during the post-medieval period.(Jamieson, E; Pearson, T) (5)

<1> Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 1913, CASTLES OF THE NORTH RIDING, p 332 - 333 (Article). SNY1613.

<2> Medieval Yorkshire, 2017, Yorkshire Licences to Crenellate, p35 (Article). SNY22629.

<3> Philip Davis, The Gatehouse Gazeteer, http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/2048.html (Webpage). SNY22630.

<4> 08/2020, A Report on an earthwork at Aldby Park, Buttercrambe (Report). SNY23852.

<5> Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Society, 08/2021, An Archaeological Survey of an Earthwork in Aldby Park, Buttercrambe. (Report). SNY23968.

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