| Summary : The remains of a motte and bailey earthwork, sited immediately to the south of the Church of St Helen and Holy Cross. There is an associated bailey to the west, together with earthworks relating to the later use of the area to the south and east. There is documentary evidence for a castle built at 'Hoton' by Bertram de Bulman as a threat to Ripon circa 1140. This was attributed to Sheriff Hutton, which is 11 kilometres from Ripon, but the reference is now thought to refer to Hutton Conyers, which is only 1.2 kilometres distant. The castle has a small inner ward or courtyard about 20 metres square, surrounded by substantial earthwork ramparts with a deep ditch beyond. The external face of the ramparts a rectangle in plan, 50 metres east-west and 40 metres north-south. The eastern rampart is broader than either the north or south sides and has a slight terrace stepping down into the inner ward. The western side of the rampart is cut through to provide the entrance. The ditch is 'U' shaped in both cross section and plan, and extends around just the north, west and south sides of the ramparts. To the west of the inner ward, there is a level area of ground which marks the area of the outer bailey, the enclosure attached to the ringwork. To the east of the ringwork there is a toft and croft. To the south of the toft, running along the southern side of the motte and bailey, there is a set of ridge and furrow which is cut by the field boundary which forms the southern extent of the area. Scheduled. |
More information : SE 6575 6622. Earthworks (NR) (1)
A motte and bailey castle was raised south of the churchyard by Bertram de Bulmer in 1140 and was abandoned before 1382 when the new Sheriff Hutton Castle (see SE 66 NE/1) was built. The summit of the motte is more or less square and is surrounded by ramparts of unusual height and size. These are broken on the west side and breached in two other places and enclose a small central court where the tower house probably stood. (2)
"....the earthwork by the church of Sheriff Hutton (Yorks NR) is as
near a perfect rectangle as can be expected in a small powerful earthwork enclosure". (3)
Almost certainly the mutilated remains of a near rectangular motte and bailey rather than a `ringwork' (as suggested by Auth 3).
The motte is set on the east end of an east/west ridge and is formed on the west side by a ditch cut across the ridge from north to south and the sides of the ridge having been steepened by scarping and ditches (maximum depth 2.2m and 9m wide on average) along the north and south sides. If the ditch existed to the east, where the ridge looses height, it must have been infilled as there is now only a very slight suggestion of a depression along this side. Part of the ditch in the south west has apparently not been cut through.
The earth from the ditch has been placed internally forming the motte which measures about 50m east/west by 46m north/south overall and about 3.2m maximum height above the top of the ridge. The featureless interior has been severely robbed causing a deep irregular shaped central depression now giving the impression of ramparts (as mistakenly interpreted by authorities 2 and 3). Access to the motte has been by a causeway 8.5m wide across the ditch in the west.
The area to the north of the motte is occupied by a church and graveyard. The ridge, as well as the surrounding ground to the east, south and west, is covered by ridge and furrow and this has almost obscured the bailey which is now just traceable along the ridge to the west. It is defined by an east/west outer scarp 140.0m along the south side of the ridge and a similar though less well defined one about 50m along its north side overgrown by a hedgerow and undergrowth. There is now no trace of the west end of the bailey as this area has been built on by modern housing, but at SE 6562 6623 ill-defined turf-covered remains of the east side of an apparently rectangular platform (about 7.8m north/south by 6.5m east/west and 0.4m high) may be the footings of a "gatehouse" or similar structure.
Published Survey (25") revised. (4)
Two boundaries which may be associated with the motte were recorded in May 1993 as part of an air photgraphic transcription of the area around Sheriff Hutton village (SE 66 NE/27, SE 66 NE/28). These possibly indicate the site of a `park' or at least a block of land associated with the motte before the move to the castle. The motte and bailey was not visible in sufficient enough detail on air photographs to transcribe. (5)
The Medieval motte recorded by Authorities 1-5, was only partially
visible on poor quality air photographs, whilst the bailey could
not be identified on at all, because of tree cover and undergrowth. (6)
SE 657 662. Earthworks near church. Scheduled no. NY/259. (7)
Additional references (8-10) |