Neville Castle |
| Hob Uid: 58668 | |
Location :
North Yorkshire
Ryedale
Kirkbymoorside
|
| Grid Ref : SE6946086940 |
| Summary : The buried and standing remains of a late medieval hunting lodge known as Neville Castle, located on the north side of Kirkbymoorside. Neville Castle is believed to have replaced the moated manor house on Vivier's Hill, 500 metres to the south east, as the main seat of the manor of Kirbymoorside which was held by the Neville family from the beginning of the 15th century until 1569, when it was forfeited to the Crown following the rebellion of Charles Neville, Earl of Westmoreland. In 1570 Neville Castle was described as a 16th century hunting lodge set in a park with a boundary circuit of 2.5 miles. Excavations in the early 1960s and in 1974 uncovered a complex sequence of buildings and modifications to buildings on the site, starting with a timber cruck framed hall which was occupied until the end of the 15th century, when it was replaced by a larger, more grandiose set of stone buildings arranged around a courtyard. Most of the remains of Nevilles Castle survive as buried deposit, but there are at least four sections of exposed masonry. The largest is the wall fragment standing to the west of the path that leads from the end of Castlegate Lane along the side of Manor Vale. This is of rough rubble stonework standing some 6 metres high. It retains part of a buttress at the north end of its west face along with a number of putlog holes. Within the field to the south there is a series of low earthworks of buried wall footings for an east-west range of buildings, whilst within the field to the north of Squirrels Lea cropmarks of further features have been photographed. |
More information : SE 695869 Castle (NR) (remains of) (NAT) (1)
SE 697869 "Neville Castle" is described as a hunting-lodge in a 1570 survey. Five phases of building construction associated with 12th-16th century pottery sherds were discovered during excavations at the north east corner of the site from 1963-65. The local toll-booth is reputed to have been built with stones from it. (2)
Very little now exists of "Neville Castle" with the exception of a short stretch of roughly coursed wall of large stone blocks 3.4m long and 6.0m high by 0.6m thick at SE 69448697. The remains of a semi-circular probable turret, together with a small doorway are incorporated in another stretch of walling, of similar construction, approximately 12.0m long by 2.0m wide with a maximum height of 1.4m, at SE 69468697.
No other remains are visible, but a disturbed area of ground in the field immediately to the north probably marks the site of the rest of the castle.
Published Survey (25") Revised. (3)
SE 699868. Site of Neville Castle. Scheduled no. NY/601. (4,5)
During recent consolidation work by EDAS, structural evidence was recorded which sugests that the upstanding wall contained an earlier gable line, perhaps associated with a hall and kitchen range exposed to the east during excavations in 2007. (5) |