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CastleUK Blog
February 2009 |
The blog page, a place where I can record and then archive my monthly updates and what's new in our hunt for castles UK.
This months castles are, 2 from Yorkshire, 2 from Derbyshire and 1 from County Durham.
January was a bit of a mixed bag for us, I started it off with flu and spent the New Year burning up in bed, not the best start I've had to a year. Things got better when I found out that Time Team were doing a digging at Scargill Castle and I had visited 2 years ago but not put it on the site. I quickly built my pages but they didn't get Googled in time for the program but I was glad in a way because they changed the history of the site so much, I had to rewrite the page. It was a great Time Team dig, they told it like it is and got down to the nuts and bolts of the site but what I don't understand is, with all the castle sites in the UK, why don't they dig more castles, its would be tons better than not Roman again. We managed to get a couple of days castle hunting in the Cotwolds, which is a lovely part of England, it nice just to get away and do the things we love. Putting on this months snowy wallpaper picture, made me updated the castles in 110, giving them there correct names, with new pictures to Castle Hill Bradfield, Bowes Castle and Peveril Castle. Sat here writing my blog, watching on and off a live stream of Roger Federer taking on Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final, they are 11 hours in front of us, what a funny old web world we live in, couldn't live without it!
Click on the pictures, for more information. |
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Castle Hill Bradfield, OS 110/SK 266-927 Yorkshire England, is this months wallpaper.
The picture was taken in mid February 2006, looking east from Kirk Edge Road, just after a light fall snow. Great clear blue sky and even the power lines add to the picture, which shows just how confusing the earthworks are, they just run down the hill and fade away. |
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Bailey Hill Bradfield, OS 110/SK 266-927 Yorkshire England, is a medieval earthwork motte and bailey fortress, which occupies a good defensive position. The castle stands on a plateau with a steep slope to the west and low ground to the south and east. The site is located behind the church of St Nicholas, Bradfield and is freely accessible in daylight hours. Super earthwork castle, there's a bit of damage to the motte and all the timber is missing but it's just like when they walked out and left it, impressive. |
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Camp Green Hathersage, OS 110/SK 235-819 Derbyshire England, is a very large but much mutilated Norman earth and timber ringwork fortress. Excavations in 1976-77 failed to produce any conclusive dating evidence, apart from a 13th century pottery sherd. The site is visible from the road and the ramparts are a good height, from the road you can walk around them to the church and visit the grave of Little John, friend of Robin Hood. You can't do that every day, can you. |
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Castle Hill Bradfield, OS 110/SK 266-927 Yorkshire England, is a medieval earth and timber ringwork fortress, which was possibly an unfinished siege-castle. Standing on the edge of a high escarpment and encased by the remains of a ditch, the partial rectangular ringwork merges with the steep southern scarp of the ridge. The site is visible from a public footpath, which passes the castle from Kirk Edge Road, nice little walk here, with good views when you get there. |
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Mouselow Castle Glossop, OS 110/SK 028-955 Derbyshire England, is a medieval earthwork motte and bailey fortress, built on an old Celtic hilltop. The position of the bailey has been quarried away and sadly spoil heaps have confused and damaged the other earthworks that commanded this ridge. The site is visible from the road but there are footpaths on the ridge, so I'm going back to have a better look. |
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Scargill Castle, OS 92/NZ 054-107 County Durham England, was originally a late 12th or early 13th century stone fortified manor house, founded by Warren de Scargill. A defensible tower stood in the south-east angle of a small walled courtyard, with several other ranges and a hall opposite the western gateway. The site is visible from a public footpath, which passes the castle from Chapel Lane. You can get a good view of the gatehouse and the earthworks from the path, well worth a look. |
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