More information : (SE 5590 7068). Crayke Castle (NR). (1)
Crayke Castle, a slightly fortified house of the type built by the Medieval bishops, bearing little resemblance to an ordinary castle. It was built by the Bishops of Durham on the site of a motte and bailey castle constructed at the time of Hugh Pudsey (died 1195), traces of which still remain. The castle consists of two separate self-contained blocks (see plan). Of the original hall, tower, kitchen and great chamber of the SW block, only the kitchen basement and the great chamber remain; the latter, 70 x 28ft, has been partly restored and is now in use as a residence. The great chamber and the kitchen were built in 1441: the hall was probably earlier, it being referred to as the "old Hall" at that time. the second block, built later in the 15th cent, also consisted of a hall, great chamber and offices. Only part of the hall and fragments of the rooms beneath survive. Originally there would be a curtain wall and a gatehouse, but no traces remain. The castle was to be made untenable by order of Parliament in 1646. (2)
Both buildings Grade 2. (3)
Additional architectural reference. (4)
Description correct; see photographs. A large mound to the immediate north which looks like part of a motte has in fact been created by a terraced pathway around the summit of the natural hill which the Castle occupies, and there are no artifical earthworks. (5)
No change to reports of authorities 2 and 5. Correctly surveyed on 1:2500 MSD. (6)
Detailed description of Crayke Castle, similar to Authority
2.(7)
Tower house with attached kitchen range to rear on which the vaulted undercroft alone survives and ruins on a further range - 'The New Tower'.
Main range: Early C15 with C18 and C19 alterations and additions, it was built before the kitchen range which is documented to 1441-50. New Tower: probably second half C15. For the Bishops of Durham. Dressed sandstone. Roof of main range concealed, lead roof to kitchen. Main range: rectangular block 70 ft 9 ins x 28 ft 4 ins. Four storeys, each being set back slightly. Bands to floor levels and battlements. Tall, narrow chamfered square headed windows. The entrance to the south side is an C18 alteration, the original entrance being by an external staircase range on the north-east side (now disappeared) to the principal room at 1st floor level. The blocked doorways are 2-centred with hollow chamfers. C19 range attached to north-east. Interior is now subdivided but the moulded cross-beamed ceilings are intact. Fireplaces to ground and 1st floors. C18 features: a cut-string staircase with 2 turned or twisted balusters per tread and curtail with turned newel.
Kitchen range: The west wall is partly rebuilt in later materials but has a corbelled-out embattled round turret for spiral staircase to the north-west corner. Chamfered doorway with key block.
Interior: tunnel vaulted with 13 heavy unmoulded transverse arches or ribs. Now subdivided. (The undercroft is at ground floor level.)
The New Tower: Completely detached building, now ruinous. Once a 3-storey L-shaped block (ground plan 1566-1570). All that remains are the barrel-vaulted undercrofts, stairs to 1st floor level and the walls of the porch. To rear of kitchen remains of foundations of a building that was described as The Old Hall in 1441. Stands on site of Norman Castle. Dismantled in 1647. In the C18 the main range was used as a farmhouse. (8)
The earliest evidence for a castle precinct comes from a pit excavated in 1983 (see SE 57 SE 84) which contained late 13th-early 14th century pottery and an ash deposit. Another pit filled with stone packing and an adjacent feature were interpreted as the hard standing for a gateway with the setting for a gatepost. These imply a north-south edge to the precinct joining the traces of an earthwork wall or precinct boundary running to the east of the present 15th century castle. Associated with the precinct was Love Lane or its predecessor, still visible as an earthwork and located in the 1983 excavation. (9)
SE 5592 7068. Crayke Castle: a motte and bailey and later stone castle of the Bishops of Durham incorporating part of an Anglo-Saxon monastic cemetery. Scheduled RSM No 12602/01 and 12602/02. (10)
Additional reference. (11)
Listed by Cathcart King. (12)
Short note and sketch plan following a survey by EDAS in 2007. (13) |