Middleham Williams Hill

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Sunskew Park

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

The remains of a large Ringwork and bailey castle built during the reign of William Rufus(c 1086 AD) and superseded by the late Norman castle soon after 1180 AD. The summit of the motte is about 160ft by 115ft and it is 40ft in height. It is defended by a ditch 20ft wide with counterscarp banks 9ft deep. A platform on the north west end of the motte may be the site of a wooden tower. The site of a small bailey to the south east is disputed.

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 SE12508725

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; 50888

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/99/middlehamotte.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p60
    Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p41-2 [plan]
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p62 [slight]
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p292
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p521
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p259
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p31, 33
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p64
    Speight, H., 1897, Romantic Richmondshire p291-2
    Whellan T, 1859, History and Topography of the City of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol2 p129
    Grainge, W., 1855, Castles and Abbeys of Yorkshire p339-40
• Journal Articles
  • Butler, Lawrence, 1992, 'The Origins of the Honour of Richmond and its Castles' Chateau-Gallard Vol16 p69-80 [Reprinted in Liddiard, Robert, (ed), 2003, Anglo-Norman Castles (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)]
    King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
    I'Anson, W.M., 1913, 'The castles of the North Riding' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p363-5 [plan]
    Armitage, 1901, The Reliquary Vol7 p164-5
    Clark, G.T., 1874, The Builder Magazine Vol32 p624-5
• Guidebooks
  • Weaver, J., 1998 Rev edn, Middleham Castle (English Heritage) p21-2