Buckton Castle

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View of Buckton Castle from the valley

Buckton Castle is an Outbound hilltop castle near the village Carrbrook in Stalybridge in English Administrative Region Greater Manchester . Because of its proximity to Buckton Vale Quarry (quarry), it is a Scheduled Monument . The castle had an oval shape and was enclosed by a 3 meter wide curtain wall and a 10 meter wide and 6 meter deep moat . Buckton Castle was probably built at the behest of William de Neville in the late 12th century. It was in ruins as early as 1360. The small number of finds that were unearthed during the excavations suggests that the castle was never completed.

In the 16th century, the site was a landmark for the Pilgrimage of Grace . During the 18th century the castle became interesting for treasure hunters because there were rumors that treasure should be buried there. During the Second World War , the area served as a mock-up of an anti-aircraft position . Today the castle is overgrown with heather and moss and there are no more ruins above ground. The University of Manchester Archaeological Institute has been carrying out excavations there since 1996 to protect the property from further deterioration and to obtain more information about its origins and purpose.

location

Buckton Castle is located 340 meters above sea level on Buckton Hill , a steep sandstone hill . To the south of it is the valley of the Carr Brook and to the west of it the valley of the River Tame . The quarry Buckton Vale Quarry is located on the east side of the castle, the city Stalybridge about 4 kilometers southeast. The castle was presumably positioned so that the garrison could watch over the Tame Valley. Castle and valley belonged to the medieval manor of Tintwistle . A manor was a piece of land that was administered by a landlord or his representative. In the case of Tintwistle, it was part of the larger Lordship of Longdendale .

history

Excavation of the stone curtain wall carried out by the UMAU on July 24, 2007
Excavations of the Center for Applied Archeology at the University of Salford

It is believed that William de Neville , the Lord of Longdendale , had Buckton Castle built at the end of the 12th century. However, it is also possible that it was built for the Earls of Chester before Longdendale was given to De Neville as fief. If the construction time is the end of the 12th century, the castle was built at the same time as other castles in the region, such as Dunham Castle , Manchester Castle , Stockport Castle and Ullerwood Castle . Traditionally, castles were first built in wood and later in stone, but Buckton Castle was instantly built in stone. It is likely that Buckton Castle was the seat of the Lordship of Longdendale as it was the only castle within its boundaries, but the lack of artifacts from this archaeological site suggests that construction of the castle never ended.

The castle was first mentioned in 1360 when a report on the property mentioned that “there is a ruined castle called Buckeden that has no value”. At that time the Lordship of Longdendale belonged to Edward the Black Prince , and the castle was in ruins. The fact that the castle was no longer used at that time corresponds to the use of other castles in Greater Manchester: In the 13th century there is no evidence of activity at any other castles in this area than Dunham Castle. In the 16th century, the castle served as a landmark during the Pilgrimage of Grace.

Part of the defensive moat around the castle

The castle was in the 18th century by archaeologists studied and originally it was thought that their place in the Iron Age , a hill fort stood. The interior of the castle was damaged by digging ditches by treasure hunters since the beginning of the 18th century. The quarrying in the nearby Buckton Vale Quarry threatened to expand into the castle grounds and thus led to the protection of the castle as a Scheduled Monument on July 9, 1924. It is the oldest ruined building in the Tame Valley. During the Second World War the castle ruins served as a mock-up of an anti-aircraft position until 1943, when it was thought that this was no longer necessary.

Excavations on the site have been carried out by the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit (UMAU) for the Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council since 1996. The work was funded in part by a grant from the Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council of £ 300,000. The first excavations were carried out to repair some of the holes dug by treasure hunters and as test digs, in 2007 the institute began extensive work to examine the site, to clarify its use and its development period. The final phase of excavation was completed in 2009. The trenches showed that the castle had a stone wall and a gatehouse, no buildings inside were discovered. The first evidence of the dating of the building was found in 2008 under the collapsed gatehouse: It consisted of a few animal bones and shards of earthenware vessels made on site from the 12th or 13th century. Today the area is overgrown with heather and moss.

construction

This floor plan was created by George Ormerod in 1817 . It shows the shape of the castle and its orientation. He does not provide any information about the built-in components.

Buckton Castle is a ring work, i.e. an approximately circular area that is enclosed by defensive works such as a moat. A ringwork is similar to the wall ring of a moth . The castle is oval and extends 45 meters along the long axis and 35 meters along the short axis. It is surrounded by a 10 meter wide and 6 meter deep trench cut into the sandstone. The entrance to the ring works is in the northwest. There may be remains of a stone tower near the entrance. The southern part of the ruin consists of the remains of a stone curtain wall 3 meters thick. The excavations of UMAU 1996 showed that what is for the outer bailey had held a moth was actually more recent - probably a part of the dummy an anti-aircraft position from the Second World War - did not come, and from the Middle Ages. The north-western entrance was guarded by a stone tower with 1.2 meter thick walls; the thickness of the walls suggests that the tower was two stories high.

The inner courtyard of the castle was raised by 1.5 meters. Ring works are a rather unusual form of fortress in medieval England; most of the castles were moths. Buckton Castle is one of only three ring mills in the traditional counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. Buckton Castle was probably built as a ringwork because the soil on site was too thin for a moth to build. According to a 1360 account of the Longdendale manor, Buckton Castle may have had a great hall and chapel . In the 18th century, the archaeologist Thomas Percival reported a fountain in the castle and walls of internal buildings that were up to a height of 2 meters. However, these structures had long since disappeared when George Ormerod wrote about the castle in 1817, and no remains of them could be discovered during the excavations.

Individual references and comments

  1. ^ A b c d Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 5.
  2. ^ Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 7.
  3. ^ David Cathcart King, Leslie Alcock: Ringworks of England and Wales in Chateau Gaillard . Issue 3 (1969). P. 117.
  4. ↑ Stephen Friar: A Sutton Companion to Castles . Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7509-3994-2 . Pp. 185-186.
  5. ↑ a b c Mike Nevell: Lands and Lordships in Tameside . Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council & University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 1998. ISBN 1-871324-18-1 .
  6. ↑ Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead, Brian Grimsditch, Brian: Buckton Castle in Current Archeology . Issue XIX, issue 225 (November 2008). P. 33. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  7. ^ A b c Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 8.
  8. ^ A b Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead, Brian Grimsditch, Brian: Buckton Castle in Current Archeology . Issue XIX, issue 225 (November 2008). P. 35. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  9. ↑ Mike Nevell, John Walker: Tameside in Transition . Tameside Metropolitan Borough & University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 1999. ISBN 1-871324-24-6 . P. 95.
  10. ↑ Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead, Brian Grimsditch, Brian: Buckton Castle in Current Archeology . Issue XIX, issue 225 (November 2008). P. 37. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  11. ↑ P. Booth, M. Harrop, S. Harrop: The Extent of Longdendale, 1360 . 5th Series, No. 83. Cheshire Sheaf, 1976-1978.
  12. ↑ Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead, Brian Grimsditch, Brian: Buckton Castle in Current Archeology . Issue XIX, issue 225 (November 2008). P. 32. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  13. ↑ The property was believed to be an Iron Age hill fort before Forde-Johnston's investigations into the Lancashire and Cheshire fortifications. But it is not similar to other hill castles.
  14. ↑ James Forde-Johnston: The Iron Age Hillforts of Lancashire and Cheshire in Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society . No. 72 (1962). Pp. 11-12.
  15. ↑ Buckton Castle: a ring work and site of 17th century beacon 350m north east of Castle Farm . Historic England. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  16. ↑ Mike Nevell: Lands and Lordships in Tameside . Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council & University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 1998. ISBN 1-871324-18-1 . Pp. 60-61, 63.
  17. ^ Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 14.
  18. ↑ a b Lost castle solves riddle of Buckton Moor . Manchester University. July 21, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  19. ↑ Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead, Brian Grimsditch, Brian: Buckton Castle in Current Archeology . Issue XIX, issue 225 (November 2008). Pp. 34-35. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  20. ↑ Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead, Brian Grimsditch, Brian: Buckton Castle in Current Archeology . Issue XIX, issue 225 (November 2008). Pp. 36-37. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  21. ↑ Stephen Friar: A Sutton Companion to Castles . Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7509-3994-2 . P. 246.
  22. ^ Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 16.
  23. ^ Buckton Castle investigation history . Pastscape.org.uk. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  24. ↑ Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead, Brian Grimsditch, Brian: Buckton Castle in Current Archeology . Issue XIX, issue 225 (November 2008). P. 36. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  25. ^ Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 10.
  26. ^ Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 11.
  27. ^ Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, Norman Redhead: Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork - an Interim Report . University of Manchester Archaeological Unit, Manchester 2007. p. 12.

Web links

Commons : Buckton Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 53 ° 30 '40.3 "  N , 2 ° 1' 4.1"  W.