More information : (Centred SK 15208282) Town Ditch (NR)
The monument lies in two areas towards the outer limits of the town in the north west and south east corners. The construction of the bank and ditch are thought to have been connected with the foundation of the borough in 1196 after Henry II acquired Peveril Castle from the original owners, the Peverels. The monument survives as a linear earthwork which includes a bank and outer ditch. The bank is approximately 12 metres wide and the ditch is of a similar width. The section to the south east of the town measures 200 metres in length and runs east to west for 100 metres before turning to the north and running in this direction for a further 100 metres. The section to the north west of the town measures 105 metres in length and is aligned north to south but curves to the east at its northern end. This section of the monument is more clearly defined with the bank sloping down steeply to the west and north. A mill stream now occupies this section of the town ditch. The town was totally enclosed within the earthwork defences but elsewhere these have been levelled, infilled and encroached on by later development. Nevertheless, the original line of the town defences can still be traced from the surviving remains on the north west side to those on the south east side of the town. The mill stream marks the line of the ditch on the northern side of the town and the curve in Mill Lane follows the line around the north east corner. Scheduled. (1)
The earliest mention of this Town Ditch is in an eighteenth century
account by Bray: 'An intrenchment, which begins at the lower end of
the valley, called the Cave, inclosed the town, ending at the great
cavern, and forming a semi-circle; this is now called the Town
Ditch,
.......' According to Rev J. C. Cox almost the whole course of the
fosse and vallum could be traced in 1905. (2)
Earthwork surveyed at 1:2500. (3)
Castleton. SK 150830. On the east and south of the town there are
the remains of the Town Ditch but on the west and north this function
was performed by the Mill Race. (4)
Castleton. Traces of a ditch on the south and east sides of the town
may be connected with the foundation of the borough in 1196. There
is no documentary evidence. (5)
Scheduled. (6)
The earthwork remains of the medieval town defences of Castleton are visible on air photographs, centred at SK 1506 8288. The bank and ditch features described above by auth (1) to the south-east and north-west of the town were mapped as part of the Derbyshire and Peak District Aggregates Assessment Survey and appear to be extant on the latest EARTH.GOOGLE.COM photography (accessed 08-OCT-2009).
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