Cowton Castle, South Cowton

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Gilling West near Richmond 2; Coluton Castle

In the civil parish of South Cowton.
In the historic county of Yorkshire North Riding (Modern Authority of North Yorkshire, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

Late C15 tower house, altered in C19 and repaired in 1980. Rectangular in plan, with towers to the south west and north east. The building is three storeyed, with four storey towers, and is constructed of stone rubble with a concrete tile roof. Now a farmhouse.

This site has been described as a;
Tower House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 332070)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ29390236

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; 23573

Books

Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p33
Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p11, 12-3
Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p25
Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p398
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p289
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p517
Pevsner, N., 1966. The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, North Riding (London) p350
Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH York, North Riding Vol1 p72-3, 161
Whellan T, 1859, History and Topography of the City of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol486-7

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.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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

¤¤¤¤¤