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Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument () 35564: Castle Hill Fortified House
• Conservation Area 44005494: Brompton

Monument Type(s):

• FORTIFIED MANOR HOUSE (Early Medieval/Dark Age to Medieval - 410 AD? to 1539 AD?)

Other References/Statuses

• AMIE Reference / HOB UID: 65496 CASTLE HILL
• National Monuments Record: SE98SW6
• Old Sites & Monuments Record Number: 3512.03

Full description

FOUNDATIONS TWO RIGHT-ANGLED FRAGMENTS OF STONY BANK SURVIVE ON A SMALL NATURAL KNOLL WITH NO EVIDENCE OF A MOTTE. SUGGESTED BY THE O.S. AS PROBABLY REPRESENTING A FORTIFIED MANOR HOUSE. TRADITIONALLY THE SITE OF AN EARLY FORTIFICATION, SAID TO HAVE BEEN THE SEAT OF THE NORTHUMBRIAN KINGS. Form: Foundations (1)
A magnetometry survey and a topographic survey of the area was carried out in 2014. It was possible to indicate the location and orientation of potential structural activity in the eastern part of the area, both the magnetic and earthwork survey indicated features in the same position and orientation.(3)
An earthwork survey was undertaken in 2016 which helped to define the likely extent of structural remains. It was not possible to interpret the site as a fortified manor house or castle with any certainty using evidence from the earthwork survey. A bank at the north of the site continues into a private garden which suggested to the surveyors that the site was originally more extensive. (4)
Two seasons of trial trenching in 2018 & 2019 recorded well preserved archaeological remains with between 1-2 m of stratigraphy surviving. There was little evidence for robbing of walls or disturbance. The remains of a large wall 1.4m wide was recorded to a depth of 1.7m on the outside face and 1.2m on the inside, however the base of the wall was not found. This wall was interpreted as a substantial boundary wall following the crest of the slope on the south west side of Castle Hill. Further stone walls were recorded of at least four phases including re-used architectural fragments. The remains of a stone building including an area of plaster and part of a possible stone flagged floor or yard were recorded. Fragments of two large medieval cooking pots were recovered beneath six roof tiles. Part of a further stone footed building which may have been post medieval and possibly supporting a timber structure was recorded overlaying an earlier wall on a different alignment associated with a hearth. The recorded remains extended outside of the excavated areas.The site was thought to preserve an enclosed medieval residence. (Pearson, Woods, Hall) (5)
A short article on the excavations by the Scarborough Archeological Society. The building is thought to be 12th century in date. (6)
In 2021 an excavation in the area between Trenches 3 and 6 approximately 10m x 10m recorded the remains of a masonry building with fine architectural details of high status. It was about 5m x 10m in size. The walls were thick enough to support a second story and had a stepped masonry plinth on the outside of the north wall. Parts of the walls had been robbed out. Insufficient pottery was recovered from the building to establish a date. Beneath the building on a different alignment was evidence for an earlier building. A radiocarbon date taken from an organic deposit from beneath the earlier building dates from the early to middle of the 12th century.(95.4% probability 1033-1165 AD) This depost also contained a small amount of Staxton Ware pottery of 12th century date. This suggests a date for the later building to be from the late 12th or 13th centuries but this was uncertain. Another building which was of lighter construction was recorded abutting the north east corner of the masonry building. This was thought to have been of timber construction with stone foundations. The floor surfaces were well preserved and suggested a long lived structure. It was thought to be later than the masonry building but this was also uncertain. The report gives a lot more information and interpretation of these building remains.(Pearson, T, Jamieson, E, Hall, C) (7)

A summary of findings of the archaeological investigations between 2014-2017 was published in the Scarborough Society's Transactions in 2019 (Hall, C, Pearson, T, Woods, M) (8)

A resistivity survey in 2022 identified further sub-surfce features within 500mm of the sub-surface that relate typologically and spatially to those excavated previously.(9)

<1> Ordnance Survey, Various, Ordnance Survey Record Card, SE98SW006 (Card Index). SNY1.

<2> Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 1913, CASTLES OF THE NORTH RIDING, p 332 (Article). SNY1613.

<3> Geophiz.biz, 04/2014, Report on a fluxgate gradiometer and topographic survey carried out at Castle Hill, Brompton-by-Sawdon. (Report). SNY20752.

<4> Scarborough and District Archaeological Society, 04/2016, An Earthwork Survey of Castle Hill, Brompton. (Report). SNY22016.

<5> Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Society, 2020, The 2019 Excavation at Castle Hill, Brompton (Report). SNY23636.

<6> Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society, 2021, Briefing: The Newsletter of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society (Serial). SNY24074.

<7> Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Society, 2022, The 2021 Excavation at Castle Hill, Brompton (Report). SNY24184.

<8> Scarborough Archaeological and History Society, 2019, Archaeological Investigations by the Society 2014 to 2017 (Article). SNY24430.

<9> Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Society, 07/2022, Geophysical Survey of Castle Hill Fortified House, Brompton (Report). SNY24624.

Sources and further reading

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