Easby Castle Hill

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Easby near Stokesley; Borough Green

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

Easby Castle Motte is a horseshoe shaped mound, 45m across, being 2.5m high on the north side but less than 2m high at the edge of the bluff. The top of the motte is slightly hollowed as a result of excavations by Howell in 1903. The south edge of the Motte is formed by the pecipitous natural scarp but elsewhere a 5m wide ditch surrounds it. This has silted to the north but is 1m deep where it runs to the edge of the bluff. The castle had timber defences and may have served as a remote watch tower or temporary refuge during the civil wars of C12. There is no evidence for a bailey.

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

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ58980848

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; 27345

Books

Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p37
Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p23
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p517
Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield)
Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p4

Journal Articles

King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
I'Anson, W.M., 1913, 'The castles of the North Riding' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p345-7

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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