Brierley Hallsteads

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Hall Steads; Grimethorpe; Willow Garth

In the civil parish of Brierley.
In the historic county of Yorkshire West Riding (Modern Authority of Barnsley, 1974 county of South Yorkshire).

Remains of medieval moated site, still visible as an earthwork. The hillside within the moat has been scarped to create a roughly circular inner enclosure. This once carried a stone wall, described as having been 4 or 5ft thick. A line of fishponds run eastwards from the northern arm of the moat. A manor house is known to have stood on this site, but no upstanding building remains survive. This may be the site of the house for which a licence to crenellate was granted in 1479 to a John Harrington. King rejects writing 'Tends to be accepted as M&B. In fact the site of manor house is a natural hillock with only slight signs of artificial earthworks'.

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

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1479 May 26.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE42080934

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; 54067

Books

Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p422
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p533 [reject]

Journal Articles

Birch, J., 1980, 'The castles and fortified houses of South Yorkshire' Archaeological Journal Vol137 p374-6

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1476-85) p151

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.

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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