Ryton, County Durham

In the civil parish of Gateshead.
In the historic county of Durham; County Palatinate of (Modern Authority of Gateshead, 1974 county of Tyne and Wear).

Interpreted as a Bronze Age barrow since 1784, the mound is now believed to be a Medieval motte with a possible bailey and scheduled as such. The motte survives as an earthwork 30m in diameter, 4m high and 9m in diameter at the top. There is evidence of a ditch 12m wide at the top and 2m wide at the base and 1.6m deep. Next to Church.

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

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ15116488

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; 22888

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham (Malvern) p56
Salter, Mike, 1997, The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland (Malvern) p115 [slight]
Jackson, M.J.,1992, Castles of Northumbria (Carlise) p152
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p139 [possible]
Gould, Chalkley, 1905, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Durham Vol1 p363
Gibson, W., 1845-54 (3rd series), Northumbrian Castles, Churches and Antiquities p50
Brayley, E. and Britton, J., 1803, Beauties of England and Wales; Durham Vol5 p182
Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol2 p552

Journal Articles

Young, R., 1980, 'An Inventory of Barrows in County Durham' Transactions of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Vol5 p10

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.

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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