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BURY CASTLE

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DESCRIPTION

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Remains of medieval moated manor house fortified by licence granted by Edward IV in 1469, after which it became known as Bury Castle. It was later razed to the ground by order of Henry Tudor. Excavation of the site in the 1970s revealed six main phases of development and decline, the first construction of a house platform and moat being in 1359-1400. Some remains have now been consolidated and are on public view.

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(SD 80201080) Castle Croft (NR). (1)

Licence to crenellate the manor house at Bury was granted in 1469 when it became known as Bury Castle. It was later razed to the ground by order of Henry Tudor. In 1865, while excavating for a sewer on 'Castle Croft', foundation walls of the Castle were discovered three feet below the surface. They consisted of a quadrangular wall about 120ft by 113ft enclosing a massive keep. Also within the enclosure stood the fortified manor house measuring about 83ft by 63ft in the form of a parallelogram. There had further been a large outer courtyard about 600ft by 450ft. Coins from the reign of Edward have been dug up from time to time in the neighbouring gardens. (2)

No visible remains, the site is now covered by modern development.(3)

SD 804112. Excavation on the site of Castle Croft in 1973 by N Tyson for Bury Museum and Bury Archaeological Society located the south section of a buttressed enclosing wall and the remains of an earlier turf wall in front. Medieval pottery, wood and leather were recovered. (4)

Excavations between 1973 and 1977 defined 6 phases of the development and decline of Bury Castle:
1) (1359-1400) Construction of house platform (c47 x 41m) and first phase of moat.
2) (c1470) Moat widening and construction of enclosing wall.
3) (c1490-1600) Dismantling of standing structures and silting of moat.
4) (c1600-1700) Attempts at moat consolidation and extension of property boundaries.
5) (c1700-1800) Completion of consolidation and site development.
6) (1800-1865) Further development leading to Hardwick's discoveries of 1865. (5)

Scheduled, SAM No. GM 1. (6)

Scheduled. (7)

Remains of Bury Castle at the junction of Castle Street and Cooper Street have been cleaned and consolidated, and are on public view. (8)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

Ordnance Survey 6" 1851

( 2) General reference

Pilkington J 1912 History of the Pilkington Family p 64

( 3) Field Investigators Comments

First OS Archaeology Field Investigator 22/01/1976

( 4) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

18 Page(s)209

(5) The archaeology of Greater Manchester journal

2 Page(s)89-130

(6) English Heritage 1995 County list of Scheduled Monuments : March 1994

English Heritage SAM List Greater Manchester March 1994 4 Page(s)4

(7) Scheduled Monument Notification

English Heritage Schedule Entry 02/01/1997

( 8) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments

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