Crayke Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Crek; Crech; Creche; Creic; Creca; Crec; Crake; Crage

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

Norman motte and bailey castle whose wooden fortifications were later replaced with a stone tower house; the castle was held by the bishops of Durham. The castle is situated at the top of a prominent natural outcrop. The motte lies beneath the later structures and is still visible to the north of the castle as an earthwork mound rising about 2.5m above the hilltop, forming a platform on which later buildings were constructed. The inner bailey defences have been altered over the years and only survive as earthworks at the south east side as a short section of bank. Several phases of building and rebuilding are known to have occurred, culminating in work undertaken for Bishop Neville (of Durham) in the mid-C15. Remnants of these various building works, including some doors and windows can be seen in the current building. Small scale excavations within the inner bailey have uncovered a gatehouse and a barn which was listed in C16 survey of the castle.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Tower House
Masonry Castle
Palace.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 333416)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE55907068

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; 56925

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/100/craykecastle.htm
    http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/adv_reference.asp?imageUID=1622
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p34
    Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p13-7
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p98-9
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p116, 174
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p51-4, 327-9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p289
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p560
    Pevsner, N., 1966. The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, North Riding (London) p131
    Taylor, A., 1962, Round the Yorkshire Castles p15-6
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p137-8
    Page, Wm (ed), 1923, VCH York, North Riding Vol2 p120-3
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p45
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p219
    Whellan T, 1859, History and Topography of the City of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol2 p594-6
    Grainge, W., 1855, Castles and Abbeys of Yorkshire p247-9
    Hutchinson, Wm, 1785-94, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham Vol3 p441-2
• Journal Articles
  • Adams, K.A., 1990, 'Monastry and village at Crayke, North Yorkshire' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol62 p29-60
    Adams, K., 1984, 'Excavation and Fieldwork at Crayke' Council for Archaeology: Bulletin of the C.B.A. Churches Committee p3-6
    I'Anson, W.M., 1913, 'The castles of the North Riding' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p343
    Rev Canon Raine, 1869-70, Associated Architectural Societies' reports and papers [Lincoln, York, Northampton, Bedford, Worcester, Leicester and Sheffield ] Vol10 p66-9
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p522, 551
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p66 Vol4 p12