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LIDDEL STRENGTH

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Possible motte and two baileys, earthwork remains. The remains comprise an eroded motte, standing 6.6 metres above an inner bailey to the east, with an outer bailey further to the east. There is no trace of a ditch between the motte and the inner bailey. There is a ditch aound the south side of the combined motte and inner ward. This ditch is massive, up to 4.1 metres deep externally and up to 8.2 metres below the inner rampart of the inner ward. It is likely that it initially enclosed a ringwork, and that the motte was a later insertion on the west side of it. The castle is first mentioned in 1174 and was taken and destroyed in 1346. It was replaced by a stone tower house, but this is not documented after 1399.Scheduled.

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(NY 402 741) Liddel Strength (TI) Motte & Bailey (GT) (1)

Motte and double bailey, probably of late - 11th/12th century, situated on the edge of a sheer cliff 160' above the Liddel Water. The outer bailey is defended by an earthen rampart and a ditch 25' deep, and the inner by a rampart 35' high. Foundations exist to the north-west of the motte, probably of the mansion which later occupied the site. (2-4)

Scheduled. (5)

Correctly described and well preserved. Re-surveyed at 1:2500. (6)

Liddel Strength, is an earthwork castle situated at NY 4018 7416, at the edge of a steep wooded escarpment of boulder clay. The whole site has been affected by the erosion of the river cliff, and is covered by rough pasture, scattered scrub and small trees. The remains are unusual. At face value they comprise an eroded motte, standing 6.6 m above an inner bailey to the east, with an outer bailey further to the E. However, it may be significant that there is no trace of a ditch between the motte and the inner `bailey' and the ditch around the S side of the combined motte and inner ward, connecting with the river cliff, describes a neat semi-circle as if enclosing a cohesive whole. This ditch is massive, up to 4.1 m deep externally and up to 8.2 m below the inner rampart of the inner ward. The impression is that it initially enclosed a ringwork, and that the motte was a later insertion on the W side of it. The outer bailey, less strong than the inner, is bounded by a bank, up to 1.4 m high internally, and outer ditch, up to 2.2 m deep externally. Contained within the inner ward are the turf covered remains of a tower (see NY 47 SW 6).

The castle is first mentioned in 1174 and was taken and destroyed in 1346 to be superceded by the tower; it seems likely that it was never rebuilt in stone (7a-7b).
The work was surveyed at 1:500 scale by RCHME Newcastle office; the original plan and field account are held in the NMR archive. (7)

Listed with reconstruction drawing and photograph. (8)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1957

( 2) Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society

JF Curwen 10, 1910 Page(s)91-107

( 3) Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society

RG Collingwood 26, 1926 Page(s)390-7

( 4) General reference

Magna Britannia 4 1816 p12 (Lysons)

( 5) Scheduled Monument Notification

Ancient Monuments of England and Wales 1965 p32 (MOW)

( 6) Field Investigators Comments

F1 BHP 24-OCT-72

(7) Field Investigators Comments

Keith Blood/06-MAY-1992/RCHME: Liddel Strength Survey

(7a) by David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery

1983

(7b) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments

Page(s)91-101

(8) Denis R Perriam and John Robinson 1998 The medieval fortified buildings of Cumbria : an illustrated gazetteer and research guide

Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society extra series vol.29 Page(s)233

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A 14th century pele tower reduced to fragmentary turf-covered foundation.

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