Sedbergh Castle Haugh Tower

Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Motte)

There are earthwork remains

NameSedbergh Castle Haugh Tower
Alternative NamesCastlehaw
Historic CountryYorkshire
Modern AuthorityCumbria
1974 AuthorityCumbria
Civil ParishSedbergh

A small well preserved motte and bailey castle. The oval motte is 30 feet high and surrounded by a ditch about 15 feet wide except on the south where there is a steep scarp. The top of the motte measures nine metres east to west by seven metres north to south. The top is dish shaped, caused by the removal of a building. The bailey, which lies to the west of the motte and slopes to the west is 30 metres east to west by 20 metres north to south. The motte was used as an air raid look out during World War II. (PastScape)

Castlehaugh Tower is an oval motte, 30ft. high, surrounded by a ditch about 15ft wide except on the south where there is a steep scarp. The bailey, measuring about 1/4 acre, now forms a terrace (VCH). The motte top measures about 9m E-W by 7m N-S; the modern building has been removed, leaving a slightly dished top. The motte commands excellent views over the town to the Lune valley, and down Garsdale and the Rawthey valley; the bridge at Millthrop would be visible but for trees. There is some gorse and hawthorn growing on the E side of the motte and recent repairs have been made to a damaged area on the N side. On the N side the motte ditch is defined by a bank 1m high. There is a slight causeway across the E sector of the motte ditch. The bailey, which lies to the W of the motte and slopes to the W, is approximately 30m E-W by 20m N-S. The bailey has no bank and there is no sign of masonry anywhere on the site (Bowden). (PastScape)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSD662922
Latitude54.3251419067383
Longitude-2.52083992958069
Eastings366230
Northings492290
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image
Photograph by Matthew Emmott. All rights reservedView full Sized Image

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Books

  • Turner, Maurice, 2004, Yorkshire Castles: Exploring Historic Yorkshire (Otley: Westbury Publishing) p. 245-6
  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 393
  • Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 97 (slight)
  • Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carlisle: Carel Press) p. 42
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 525
  • Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p. 130
  • Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol. 2 p. 37

Journals

  • 1996, Sedbergh Historian Vol. 3.5
  • Higham, Mary, 1991, 'The Mottes of North Lancashire, Lonsdale and South Cumbria' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 91 p. 79-90 (reprinted in Crosby, A.G. (ed), 2007, Of names and places: selected writings of Mary Higham (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society and the Society for Name Studies) p. 81-91) online copy
  • Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 207 (mislocated in Lancashire) and 213 (mislocated in Westmorland) online copy

Other

  • English Heritage, 2006, Extensive Urban Survey - Cumbria (Cumbria County Council) Download copy
  • Constable, Christopher, 2003, Aspects of the archaeology of the castle in the north of England C 1066-1216 (Doctoral thesis, Durham University) Available at Durham E-Theses Online
  • Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 534 online copy
  • Mark Bowden, 18-MAY-1993, Howgill Fells Project (RCHME)