More information : [SD 48721854] Site of MOAT [A.T.] Site of CASTLE [A.T.] (1)
[SD 48811855] Site of CASTLE [G.T.] (2)
"I own the field in which the castle is said to have stood. I
have never heard of anything ever being found which could be
associated with the site. The field has'nt been ploughed in my
time. It has been an orchard as long as I can remember, and
always under grass. I well remember the so-called CASTLE DITCH
being filled-up. Actually it was the old course of the river
[YARROW]. It flowed once, by the side of the TOWN ROAD, from
the old bridge, in a large bend round the north side of the
Castle field to where the CASTLE BRIDGE now is. It was filled in
about 30-40 years ago. The present course of the river, I
believe, follows the line of the moat, cut across the width
of the bend, to make an island on which to build the castle." (3)
The site of the castle is within a roughly triangular-shaped
field of pasture, planted with fruit trees, except for the
western end. The pasture shows traces of old rig and furrow
ploughing. Along the south side is the River YARROW, and the
north and west sides are bounded by a modern footpath named
CASTLE DITCH. To the east, are bungalows, and various properties
bordering on TOWN ROAD. No traces of the castle or its moat are
now to be seen.
The site lies in fairly flat low-lying country, which in
earlier times would have been very marshy generally.
But CROSTON stands upon a slight elevation rising some 4.0m. above
the ground to the west, and here stands a bridge, dated 1682
(see SD 41NE9) crossing the River YARROW.
It seems likely then, that some form of defence might have been
constructed here to defend this isolated river crossing. (4)
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