Sutton upon Derwent Giants Hill

In the civil parish of Sutton Upon Derwent.
In the historic county of Yorkshire East Riding (Modern Authority of East Riding of Yorkshire, 1974 county of Humberside).

Medieval moated motte surviving as an earthwork. The mound is 4m high and 23m in diameter. The enclosing moat is 1.5 to 2m wide and 1m deep. It has been suggested that it was built to guard the nearby crossing of the River Derwent. Park moat related to moated site at St Lois (or Loys) according to Jean le Patourel. In woodland. Since the crossing of the Derwent was clearly a kilometer further south and a motte at Sutton or Elvington would be more usual, and given the view that it is a park moat, it is doubtful as motte in my view. Recorded in VCH as possible site of moated homestead.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Questionable.
Earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE71044862

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 59495

Books

King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p532 [possible]
Allison, K.J. (ed), 1976, 'Sutton Upon Derwent' VCH Yorkshire East Riding Vol3
Le Patourel, H.E. Jean, 1973, The Moated Sites of Yorkshire (The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series 5) p116

Journal Articles

Ramm, H.G., 1965, The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol41 p331

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

Go to Previous Record Go to Next Record Back to List
This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

¤¤¤¤¤