Foss Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Lythe; Mulgrave; Fossards; Mulgreit

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

Motte and bailey castle founded in 1072, and abandoned in about 1200 when Robert de Turnham built Old Mulgrave Castle, its stone successor, 700m to the east. The motte has a diameter of 50m and is surrounded by an 8m wide, 2m deep ditch. The mound is 4m high, the flat top being 40m in diameter, partially surrounded by a 0.5m high rampart bank. To the northeast of the motte, running at a tangent to it, is a ditch. This is 5m wide and 1.5m deep at its northwest end but becomes 10m wide and 3m deep at its southeast end. The motte is flanked by two enclosures, or baileys. The one to the north is triangular, measuring 60m by 30m, bounded by the ditch on its northeast side. The southern bailey is larger, measuring 65m long by 40m wide.

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 NZ831117

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; 29496

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/94/lythecastle.htm
• Books
  • Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p47 [plan]
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p65
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p19
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p521
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p250
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p66-7
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield)
    Page, Wm (ed), 1923, VCH York, North Riding Vol2 p390
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p45
• 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 p348-51 [plan]