Castles in Greater Manchester

There are nine castles in Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. Four are motte-and-baileys, three are fortified manor houses, a ringwork, and a possible shell keep. A motte-and-bailey castle has two elements, the motte is an artificial conical mound with a wooden stockade and stronghold on top, usually a stone keep or tower. [Friar (2003), p. 54, 214.] A bailey is a defended enclosure below the motte, surrounded by a ditch. [Friar (2003), p. 22.] Motte-and-bailey castles were the most common type of castle in England following the Norman Conquest. [Rowley (1997), p. 71.] Ringworks are similar to motte-and-baileys although lack the characteristic motte; [Friar (2003), p. 246.] they are an uncommon form of fortification – though contemporary with motte-and-baileys – a ringwork may have been built rather than a motte-and-bailey because the soil was too thin to provide a proper motte. [Grimsditch, Nevell, and Redhead (2007), p. 10.] A shell keep was a motte with a stone wall rather than a wooden stockade on top; there would have been no tower within the walls. [Friar (2003), p. 259.] Four of Greater Manchester's castles are Scheduled Ancient Monuments: Buckton, Bury, Radcliffe Tower, and Watch Hill. A Scheduled Ancient Monument is a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. [cite web |title=The Schedule of Monuments |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1369 |publisher=Pastscape.org.uk |accessdate=2007-12-30]

The purpose of a castle was not simply militaristic, but was also considered to be a stamp of authority over the population of an area and a status symbol. Some would have acted as centres of trade and administration for a manor. [Friar (2003), p. 186, 193.] The earliest castles in Greater Manchester are Dunham and Watch Hill in Trafford, Ullerwood in Manchester, and Stockport Castle in Stockport. They were first recorded in 1173 as belonging to barons who had rebelled against Henry II, [Arrowsmith (1997), p. 31.] and at least three were motte-and-bailey castles, probably because of the speed and ease with which they could be erected. Hamon de Massey, who owned the Trafford castles and Ullerwood, and Geoffrey de Constentyn, who owned Stockport Castle, were two of the three rebels from Cheshire; the other was the Earl of Chester, the owner of Chester Castle. [Arrowsmith (1997), p. 31.] Castles continued to be built in the area, although the last to be built in Greater Manchester were two fortified manor houses near Bury, built more for comfort than as utilitarian military structures. Bury Castle and Radcliffe Tower followed the national trend in the 13th century; they would most likely have acted as the centre of the manor they served. [Friar (2003), p. 186–7.]

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List of castles

ee also

*Castles in South Yorkshire
*Scheduled Monuments in Greater Manchester

References

;General
*cite book |first=Peter |last=Arrowsmith |date=1997 |title=Stockport: A History |publisher=Stockport MBC Community Services Division, and Stockport Libraries, in association with the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit |location=Stockport|isbn=0-905164-99-7
*cite book |first=Stephen |last=Friar |date=2003 |title=The Sutton Companion to Castles |publisher=Sutton Publishing |location= Stroud |isbn=978-0-7509-3994-2
*cite book |first=Alan |last=Kidd |date= [1996] 1993 |title=Manchester |publisher=Keele University Press |location=Keele |isbn=1-85331-028-X
*cite book |author=Brian Grimsditch, Mike Nevell, and Norman Redhead |date=September 2007 |title=Buckton Castle: An Archaeological Evaluation of a Medieval Ringwork – an Interim Report |publisher=University of Manchester Archaeological Unit |isbn=
*cite book |first=Mike |last=Nevell |date=1998 |title=Lands and Lordships in Tameside |publisher=Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council with the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit |isbn=1-871324-18-1
*cite book |first=Mike |last=Nevell |date=1997 |title=The Archaeology of Trafford |publisher=Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council with the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit |isbn=1-870695-25-9
*cite journal |first=Caron |last=Newman |date=2006 |title=Medieval Period Resource Assessment |journal=Archaeology North West|volume=8 |pages=115–144 |issn=0962-4201
*cite book |first=Trevor |last=Rowley |date=1997 |title=Norman England |publisher=Batsford and English Heritage |isbn=0-7134-8060-2

;Specific