More information : (SD 98920161) Buckton Castle (NR) (site of) (1)
Listed as Class 'A' ringwork with the comment "very high site". (2)
Buckton Castle, hillfort - Iron Age 'A/B' (3)
Class B Earthwork (Fortresses on hilltops with contour following defences). Situated on Buckton Moor 3/4 mile east south east of Mossley Station, and at a height of 1123 ft above sea level is a small earthwork. It consists of an artificially raised platform surrounded by a rampart with an outer ditch on three sides. The original entrance is to the north east. The raised platform measures 32 yards north west to south west, its surrounding rampart, which stands conspicuously above the level of the moor, shows signs of revetment. Apart from the area to the SW, where the natural slopes are very steep, a broad and deep ditch surrounds the work. Slight traces of an additional rampart are visible on the SE side.
Aiken (4a) describes 'ruins 6ft to 7ft higher than the area' near the SE side, but these are no longer visible.
A road with traces of pavement, and two ditches, apparently outworks, are recorded leading to the castle on the north side.
Various ornaments and two gold bead chains have been found in the immediate vicinity. (4)
The earthwork, as it stands, is clearly a ringwork, although closer in profile to Class 'B' than 'A'. Its strong defensive position, however, and the former existence of an outer rampart beyond the limits of a possible counterscarp bank to the ditch, suggests that the ringwork is superimposed on an Iron Age fort.
The whole is largely as described, apart from the postulated road and outworks on the north approach of which there is now no trace. There is no evidence on the adjacent slopes of any field system that would support the premise of Iron Age occupation.
Re-surveyed at 1:2500. (5)
Additional reference. (6)
SD 989 016. Buckton Castle. Listed in gazetteer as a site now rejected as a hillfort. Area 0.07ha. (7)
Additional reference (not consulted). (8)
Scheduled, SAM No. GM 4. (9)
Scheduled. For the designation record of this site please see The National Heritage List for England (10 & 14)
Listed by Cathcart King. (11)
Description of the site and its history. (12)
Between 1996 and 2002 the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit (UMAU) conducted a landscape survey, small-scale excavations and remedial work to Buckton Castle. Three further seasons of excavation 2007-2010 were designed to assess date, phasing and extent of surviving remains.
The work resulted in confirmation that the castle can no longer be considered as a ringwork, but as an enclosure castle. There were three main phases of activity: firstly digging of the ditch creating the northern causeway, raising of the inner platform and construction of the curtain wall and gatehouse, secondly recutting of the castle ditch and the addition of the platform to the rear of the eastern curtain wall, thirdly abandonment of the castle with rapid collapse. The excavation confirmed that Buckton was a stone castle.
There was little dateable evidence recovered, late 12th century vessels found below demolition deposits in the northern entrance. Perhaps the castle’s habitation was short lived. The stone work suggests the castle was never finished. The pottery and building form suggest 12th- early 13th century date.
It is assumed that the castle was built by an Earl of Chester, or at a stretch, William de Neville in the 1180s. This is unlikely though as an earl of Chester would not have allowed a vassal to build a stone castle on the edge of his territory.
Documentary evidence states the castle was in ruins by 1360. It may have been used as a beacon site during the pilgrimage of Grace 1536-7 and again during invasion scares of the 1580s. The castle was drawn on an estate map of Stayley manor at the end of the 16th century. In the 18th century rumours of buried treasure immersed. Thomas Percival described and surveyed the site in the 1770s. Late 18th and 19th centuries the castle is mentioned by local historians. The 20th century the castle site is affected by the expansion of the quarry to the east. Castle area was then used in WW2 as part of the anti-bomber defences for the Manchester city region. A starfish decoy site is recorded as in Mossley close to the castle. (13)
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