ORE Open Research Exeter

TITLE Early castles and rural settlement patterns: insights from Yorkshire and the

AUTHORS Creighton, O.H

JOURNAL Medieval Settlement Research Group Annual Report

DEPOSITED IN ORE 22 May 2008

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http://hdl.handle.net/10036/27532

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A NOTE ON VERSIONS

The version presented here may differ from the published version. If citing, you are advised to consult the published version for pagination, volume/issue and date of publication Earlv Castlesand Rural SettlementPatterns: Insights from Yorkshire and the East Midlands by Oliver H Creighton

Introduction medievalhunting resources. Second, other castles can bc Traditional castcllology, with its entphasis on understoodas isolatcdhigh-status settlcrncnts within architecturaland militaryanalysis, has often led to thc landscapesthat were also characteriscd,wholly or studyof castlcsin isolationfronr their landscape contexts. partially,by otherforms of disperscdscttlcment. Castles In particular,many syntheticstudies of mcdievalcastles which fall into the secondcategory were thus manorial have consistcntlyfailed to acknowledgethe statusof centresand perhapsworking fanns as wcll as fortiflcd fortified sitcs as working ntanorialcentrcs which sites. contributcdto the devclopn-rentof contcmporary The ringwork or motte and bailcy providedtrcdicval landscapes.Rcccnt studies of thc usagcand rnanipulation lordswith a flexiblephysical tcrnplatc rcadily adapted to of socialspacc within castleplanning, while welcomc, a variety of social and physical geographical havelikewisc failcd to providea broadercontext for the circumstancesand landscapcs, the control of royalfbrests intcrpretationof castlcs. Conversely, landscape was onespecialised 16le which earlycastlcs sorletirnes archaeologistsancl scttlement historians have oftcn fulflllcd.We mustrecognise, howcvcr, the essential social tendedto ovcrlook the rolcs clf castlesas fbrms of andlegal differences betwecn castlc sites associated with settlement.This is dcrnonstratedamply by the mergcrin the managcmcntof royal fbrcstsas opposcdto privatc 1986of the Mcdicval Village RcsearchGroup and seigneurialchases and parks.Castlcs associated with MoatcdSites Research Group to fbrm thc MSRG, while forestsacted as ccntrcsfor the adrninistrationof an area castlcs,as high-statusforms of settlemcnt,have lain underthe jurisdiction of forestlaw throughthe stratcgic beyondthc rcrnitof the rnergedbody and remain thc focus settlementof an appointedofficial. Thcsc sites also of thc CastleStudies Group.

This papcr cmphasisesthat castlescan and must be lsolated c6tle slte Early Castlesand Rural Settlement viewed as intcgral componcntswithin medicval Castle associated with hmrleVfamstead settlenrentpattcrns; e ither as elemcnts within the fabric of CNtlc assoclated wUr rcgulalr vrllage villagesand harnletsor as dispersedfbrms of settlernent Castlc associatedwith urcgular village in their own right. Casestudy matcrial drawn fiom thc author'srcscarch in Yorkshircand the EastMidlands C6tle assoclated wlth towr (Creighton1991 .1998; 1999)is uscdto drawattention to some irnportantinterrelationships between castles and rural settlemcntpatterns, and to cxploresome potcntial avenuesfbr fLrturcrcscarch. Figure l3 illustratcsone importantaspect of thc interrelationshipbetween early castle sites (i.e. those with likcly occupationin thc pcriodc. i066-1216)and rural settlementfbrms. What is irnmcdiatelyobvious is that castlcs,in termsof their settings,appear to mirror wider regionaltrcnds in medievalrural settlement development, reflectedin thc markcdclustering of isolatedcastles, and those associatedwith hamletsand both regularand irregularvillages. For instanoe,castles of the Holderness peninsulaare prcdominantlyassociated with irregular villages;the Vale of York is charactcriseclby castlesin close associationwith regular villages, and the Lincolnshirefen-cdge castles arc primarily isolated sitcs. Whileit remainscsscntial not to overlookthe diversity of settlcrncntforms within a givcn area,this obscrvation doescmphasise the statusof castlesas core elements within the distinctivcmedieval rnanorial economies of differentrcgions and sub-rcgions. 0 t00km Castlesas Settlement % -T-i We may define two essentialways in which castles functionedas dispersedfbrms of medievalsettlement. I First, a proportionof tbrtifled siteswere constructedto Figure I3: Ke"y,relntion,ships hetween earlv c'a,stle,sand act as specialisedcentres for the administrationof rural settlement in Yorkshire oncl the East Midlands.

29 I 1

Q Castle

r Parish Church

o ror.. r lVlmted Manorial Site # .- perish Boundery

Figttrc l4: Custle,s,c'hLrrc'hes and moated sites in sotrth Linc'olnshire (uclupteclfrom Heulet, 1977, Figure l5). providedoccasional accommodation for huntingparties Kestevento the west. For instance.the castlesites at andare invariably fbund in isolatedpositions, while those Aslackby(TF 085305),Corby Glen (SK 000251), associatcdwith privatc dccr parks wcrc more often Heydour(TF 007397),Hough-on-the Hill (SK 924464). closelyassociatcd with villagesor hamlets. Stainby(SK 909226)and Wclbournc(SK 968542)are all fully intcgratedwithin villageplans, and indicatethe Typical of theseisolated 'forest' castlesare Sauvey position of castleswithin a fundamentallydifferent Castle,Leics. (SK 787053)and Beaumont Chase, Rutland manorialand social structure. (SK 849004);both the seatsof appointedroyal foresters associatedrespectively with the forestsof Leafieldand Otherregional studies confirm that in certainlandscapes Rutland(Creighton 199J, 3233. 1999,22-23). Three the distributionof castlcsitcs can bc vicwedas partand isolatedcastles on the fringesof SherwoodForest can be parcel of a characteristicallydispersed medieval interpretedin a similarlight: Annesley (SK 509518)and scttlemcntpattern, as in Devon(Higharn 1982,106). Yet Kingshaugh,Notts. (SK 765736),and South Normanton, it is equallypossible that dispersedsettlernent could Derbys.(SK 459568)(Crook 1990, 94-95; Speight 1994). originatethrough schemes of seigncurially-lcdplanning. That castlescould form fortified elementswithin thcsc The statusof other early castlesas isolatedforms of schemeshas been demonstratedin the Vale of settlcmcntin non-nuclcatcdlandscapes is exemplifiedby Montgomery(King andSpurgeon 1965), and it is possiblc a seriesof sitesin south-castLincolnshire. In particular, thatthe castle at Kilton, Cleveland (NZ 703175)may well we rnaynote the landscapecontext of four earlycastles have been plannedin conjunctionwith a seriesof in South Holland and Boston (Figure l4): Fleet farmsteadsin its irnmediatehintcrland (Danicls 1990, (TF 385231 Swineshead(TF 243410).Wrangle ); 46-47).The factthat these pattems lack the conventional (TF 413531);and Wyberton(TF 335410).With the hallmarkof settlementplanning - regularity-should not exceptionof Wyberton,all thesesites arc low wetland detractfrom the fact that they were deliberatecreations mottcs which rcpresent,in morphologicalterms, an by powerful secularlords. It is certainthat parallel intermediateform betweenthe motte and bailey and schemesremain to be identifiedelsewherc and may well moatedmanor. Significantly, the manncr in whichallfour bc characteristicof borderregions in the highlandzone. sitesare isolated fiom looselyagglomerated settlements or arc isolatcdforms of scttlcmcntin their own right, Castlesand DesertedSettlement rnirrorscxactly thc landscapccontext of moatedmanorial The study of intcrrclationshipsbctwccn castlcsand sitesin thesurrounding district. The early castlcs of South deserted settlemcnts can makc two important Hollandwcrc thus intcgralcomponents of a regional contributionsto our understandingof the 16lesof castles economydominated by splitmanors and a relativelyfrce in the developmcnt of rural landscapcs.First, socialstructure (Hcalcy 1971,28);hcre castles clearly morphological plan analysis may arnplify our follow an extantsettlement pattcrn and cconomywhere understandingofthe physicalputtern of'castle-settlement church,settlement and manor wcrc not necessarily relationships,in the absenceof the post-medieval conjoined.This pattcrn contrasts sharply with thegreater alterationsto villageplans that blur the picture elsewhere. integrationof sitcsof lordship(both castles and moats) in Second,it remainsto be identified whether desertcd

30 Figure I 5: Wooclheacl,Rtttland (adapted/rom lVorthants.CRO lvlup lrlo.4 t34/2).

settlcmentsassociatcd with castleswere atypical in any Nos 1915.22and 1917.55).The cntirc complexwas way and,in particular,whcther the abandonmentof the formerly encompassedby a spring-fed moat, ancl castlewas a causal,contributory or independentfactor in evidenceof fishpondsto thenorth and south may indicate theproc'e,s.s of scttlement decline. a secondaryphase of manorialexpansion. The medievalfortified site of Woodhead.Rutland The exarnpleof Woodheadserves to indicatcthat srnall (SK 997116)occupics a prominentridgc-top position, foci of settlementassociated with apparentlyisolatcd c. L7km north-eastof the York-StamfordRoman road castlesremain to be identified.A complcxrange of other (Figure3). Despiteits presentisolation as a landscape relationshipsexist between castles and dcsertcd/shified/ feature,the castleappears to havcspawned a dependent shrunkensettlements. For instancc.the closc association hamletor settlement,although its population is subsumed of earlycastles with parishchurches and smallzones of within that of Great Castertonin rnedievaltaxatton settlementearthworks at Gilmorton(SP 570879)and returns,thus rendcring cstimation of itssize problematic. Shawell,Leics. (SP 541796)may indicatcearly The manor of Woodheadis absentfrom Domcsday; settlementfoci which have becn dcsertedin f-avourof however,in 1286-87a toft and croft at Woodheadare othervillage sites (Creighton l9gl, 25-27,30-3 l). specifiedin thc endowmentof a chapelhere (lrons l9 I 7, Elsewhere,the scrutinyof relationshipsbetwcen castles 50-51;VCH Rutlandll 1935,235), and in 1684the anddeserted village earthworks has much to tcll us; for antiquarianWright mentions" ....Woodhead,fonnerly a instanceat Burley,Rutland (SK S94120)and Kingerby, villageand chapelry,now only one house,and that in Lincs.(TF 056928),Norman castlebuilding clearly ruins"( 1684,36). The prccisclocation and plan of this infringed upon and displacedportion of existing scttlementremains obscure, yct a 1798estate plan of settlements(Creighton 1999, 26-28: Everson et ul. 1991. Bridge Castcrtonby J. Baxter depictsfour squarish 147-49). enclosurcsin line to thc southof the castleearthworks which arc associatcdwith the field-nameWoodhearJ Castlesand Village Planning Wherea Ckt.se,s( Figure 15).These features may well indicatea castleis associatedwith a settlcmentcontaining seriesof amalgamatcdpeasant crofts, subsequently clearlyplanncd elements, it is temptingto singlcout the castleseigneury overlainby ridge and furrow cultivation,whilst a asthe likely agentof settlententchange. Thefoundation superficialdcpression leading east from the castlemay of a castlccould be a criticalmomcnt in a settlement's indicatea forrnerhollow way. Althoughthe desertion of development,when powerfulsecular lords were the settlementcan be datedno carlierthan Wright's apt to indulgethemsclves in scttlementplanning, drivenby late-sevcntecnth-ccnturyref-ercnce, the castle was social,economic and evenacsthetic rnotivcs. certainly ruinous by 1543, whcn it is positively Thesequestions must, howcver, be relatedto the wider debate documentcdfor thc first timc (VCH Rutlandl l 1935. within medievalsettlement studics concerning the 232). coercivepowers of lordsin scttlementplanning relative to the collectivepower of peasantcommunities (Dycr The castleearthworks prcsently abut a zoneof woodlancl l9tl5; Harvey 1989;Lewis et ul. 1991.204-10). In to the north,and givcn thatthc placc-narne Wod(e)hevecl addition,archaeological rcsearch is dcmonstrating ('headlandor eminencewith a wood') is recordedas early increasinglythat many rural castlesitcs pcrpetuated as 1263(Cox 1994,l3 l), thistopographical relationship extant seatsof secularauthority (Higham and Barker is clearlyof somcantiquity. The prcsentfield monument 1992,38-61),making it difficulrto correlateepisodes of comprisesa sub-rectangularringwork with vestigesof an settlementplanning with Norman as opposedto appendingenclosurc to theeast, and surface collection in pre-Conquestlordship. the immediatearea has yieldcd a substantialvolume of It becomespossible tile and a fragmentof Collywestonslate, in additionto to draw a finner link betwcencastlc medievalpottery (Rutland County Museum Acquisition buildingand settlementplanning wherc documcntary

3r de Lacy lords from c. ll44 in ordcr to create a complementarydemesne estate around the hub of Barwick, which by the thirteenthcentury had replaced Kippaxas the gravitational centre of thc northpart of the Honourof Pontefract(Fault and Moorhousc 1981,257, 735).These circumstances rnake it likcly thatthc planned cxtensionmay well corrclatewith Barwick'srapid rise to prominencewithin the Hclnourof Pontcfiact.Sirriiar sequences- of settlementsrising to adrninistrativc prominence,corlrlensurate with castlebuilding and settlemcntplanning - have beenrccognised elsewherc; for instanccat Kirkby Malzeard,N. Yorks. and Laxton, Notts.(Camcron 1980, 220-25; Challis 1995;Roberts 1990.120-2t\. Conclusions This paperhas served to draw attcntior.r,through a serics of contrastingcase-studies, to certainaspects of thc interrelationshipbetween rnedicval castles and rural settlement.From one perspectivcit is irnpclrtantthat futurcarchaeological reports rclating to thc excavationor surveyof castlesitcs give full recognitionto thc context of a fortified site within its scttlementlandscape, in additionthe more standard analysis of itsphysical setting and ownershiphistory. Yet cqually,however, nredieval settlcmentstudies must recognisc that castles are as ntuch a part of the settlernentpattern as rnoatcdnlanors or isolatedhomesteads. Theseremarks are particularlypcrtincnt with regardto theperiod between 1066 and 1250,when mally earth and Figure l6: Barwick-in-Elntet, W. Yorks. (adopted /|ont timberforlifications we re raised under the ordcrs of minor OS F'irst Edition). lords. tenantsand sub-tenantsto function as rnanorial centres as much as military strongpoints.Thc evidencemakes it clearthat the construction of a fortified interrelationshipsbetween thcsc rural rnottesand siteresulted in a demonstrableincrease in a settlement's ringworksand their associatcdrnanorial econor.nies arc statusand economic fortunes. This appearsto be truc of yet to be cxarninedadequately, although intcrcsting Barwick-in-Elmet,Yorks. (SE 194275).The village plan patternsof regionalvariation can be anticipated.Thc full exhibitsthree distinct plan-units (Figure l6): anirregular range of relationships,both chronological and nucleusof tenementsclustering around All Saints'church morphological,bctween castle and settlementis clcarly (which containsfragments of Anglo-Saxonwork: complex,yet key themcs can be identifled:in manycascs Collingwoodl9l4-18, 135-39);a univallateiron age castlesand churchesform a magnatecore within a hillfort rcmodelledas a motteand bailey,and a regular settlement(Morris 1989,248-255); clsewhere castle row of tenementscharactcriscd by longtott plots,which siting rneant the disruption and displacernentof appendsto thc southof the hillfort. This regularunit of antcccdentsettlement; in othcr landscapcscastles villagetopography is seeminglya plannedexpansion over functioned as fbrms crf dispersedsettlernent. Thc open field agriculturc,as indicatedby the curvilincar underlyingconclusion is that castlescan and rnustbc junction profileof the plots.Thc betweenthe threeplan understoodas part and parcel o1-wider settlemcnt units is indicatedby a rrrarkcdwidening of Main Street landscapes;to denythis is undoubtcdlyto the detriment wherc standsthe vestigesof a market cross.What is of ruralsettlement studies and castcllolosv. significantis thatdocumentary analysis reveals Barwick to have(re)emcrgcd as a centreof regionaladministration Bibliography in the mid twelfth century;bcforc, the townshipwas a Higharrr,R. A. and Barkcr, P. A. 1992:'l-inrbct'('u.stlc.s.l-ondon: berwickof Kippaxand of little apparentsignificance. Stackpol"^. Clamcron,A. l9tl0: Laxton bcfbre 1635.Err.il lllidlund.s Gcogrupltt,r 7 The motteand baileyat Barwickwas not a castleof the (6), 2 re-226. K. 1995: post-Conquestperiod. C'hallis, Rcccntcxcavations at Larlon, Nottinghanrshrrc. immediate Instead,it was raised Medievul Sctllemutl Rc.seurchGntup Rcport 10, 20-23. duringthe uncertain political geography of theAnarchy, C'ollingwood,W. G. l9l4- I 8: Anglianand Anglo-Danish sculpturc irr at a timeof intensepolitical threat to thede Lacyposition thc West Riding. York.shit'eAtrhueoktgitul .Jourttul23,129-2()9. (Wightman 1966, 244). The hillfbrt was doubtless Cox, B. 1994: Thc Plucc-ltluntt'sof Rutlunrl Nottingham: Hn-ulish re-occupieddue to its geographicalposition at the Placc-NamcSocicty. Crcighton,O. H. 1997:Early LciccstcrshircCastlcs: archacology and junctionof the east-westroute through the Penninesand landscape history. Trun.satliou,s o/ tht' Leit't,.slt,rshtre theAire Gap,and the north-south axis of communication Art'ltaeologi<'ulqnd I Ii.stori<'ulSbcict.r' 7 l, 2l-36. on thewestern fringe of theOuse-Trent basin. Hamlets in Crcighton, O.H. l99fl: Cusllesand Lund.st'upe.\:on ,lrthucologit'ul theimmediate hinterland of Barwickat Hillum. Barnbow Surve,vo.f Yorkshit'cond the Eu.stMidlund.s. Univcrsity ot' Leicester:Unnublishcd PhD Thcsis. andSeacroft was incorporated within thetownship by the

_12. Crcighton,O.tl. l9c)9:Early castlcsin thc mcdicvallandscapc o| [1igham,R. 1982: E,arlycastlcs in Dcvon, l06tt-1201.Chritauu llutland. Tran,su<'tion.so/ the [,t,it'e.stcr.shireArt'haaologic'al untl Gaillard 9-10. | 021| 5. lli.storiculSocict.t' 73 1999,1933. Irons.L,. A. l9l7: WoodhcadCastlc. Anrtuul Rcport o/ thc Rutlund Crclok,D. 1990:Thc lirrcstbctwccn thc f:rclvashand thc Derwcnt, A rt' hu eo I ogic u I an d lVut u t'u I I I i,str t r'.t' Sot' i t,t.t., I 5. 50-,5I . I f 5-l to 1225.Dcrbvshirt, An'hucologit'ul .lournul 110, 93-104. King, D..1. C. and Spurgcon..l.196-5: Mottcs in rhc Valc of Danicls.I{. 1990:Kilton: a survcyol'a moorlandliingc township. In Montgomery.At'thueologi