APPLEBY CASTLE

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Royal castle. Originally a motte and bailey castle, replaced by a stone keep circa 1170 (see NY61NE23). A house (see NY61NE25) was built within the grounds of the bailey probably in the 14th century which incorporated a 13th century round tower and other remains of an earlier building. House part rebuilt in 1454 by Thomas de Clifford. Restored in 1651-3 with additions of 1686-88, and 1695. A Roman well indicates the site of a possible settlement. The castle walls are mainly of sandstone rubble with some ashlar. The castle earthworks consist of a deep ditch enclosing both the keep platform and the bailey. The interior has been levelled and altered at various times though the possible layout of the motte and bailey can still be detected.

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[NY 685199] Appleby Castle Caesar's Tower Moat [twice] [GT] (1)

First or early Norman castle at Appleby thrown up by Ranulf de Meschines. It began as a mount-and-bailey of timbered earthwork, and its banks and ditches survive as one of the most impressive examples of Norman military engineering. Later the motte was cut down and on its truncated summit was built the fine stone tower. Whether this keep was in existence before the capture of Appleby in 1174 may be doubted.
The squared-off eastern end of the bailey indicates that the hall was always here; at first it was doubtless of timber, but seems in late Norman times to have been replaced by a hall of stone, of which a considerable portion of the eastern or outer wall remains in the existing structure.
The Norman hall and postern would seem to be older than the existing keep. Possibly an earlier keep was destroyed, in 1174. This 14th cent. building is designed as a hall-house upon the traditional lines, with a central hall, chapel and great chamber. Considerable Norman ashlar work still surviving in the wall which encloses both mount and bailey shows that the replacing of the timber defences was completed before the end of the 12th cent. The hemicylindrical towers were built in the 13th cent, one is still in an excellent state of preservation.
The great Gatehouse on the west side of the modern entrance was built by Lord John Clifford before 1422. A massive fragment survives; it was probably destroyed in the Civil War. Lord Thomas Clifford's reconstruction of the east range in 1454 is still recognisable. In the SE tower the 15th cent work seems to include everything above the 2nd floor.
The castle is described by Leland as ruinous in 1539, and in 1651-3 the castle was restored by the Countess of Pembroke. Of her work we may still indentify the mid-wall in the keep, the 4 turret heads thereon, the former brew-house range west of the entrance, extensive rebuilding of the Norman curtain, the remarkable steading in the western bailey, and the bee-house to the north. [marked 1 & 2 on inset plan.]
Between 1686 and 1688 the 4th Earl of Thanet built the existing eastern range embodying the shell of its md. predecessor, and it would seem that the wing extending westward from this work to the 13th cent. drum tower was added in 1695. (2)

Similar information. (3)

In good condition, see photograph of tower.
Published survey (25") of earthworks revised. (4)

[NY 6819] Appleby Castle [NR] Caesar's Tower [NR] (5)

Uninhabited parts scheduled as A.M's. (6)

Appleby Castle. Grade 1 (7)

In March 1967 repairs to some basement rooms at the castle revealed the top of a well-head framed and lined with timber; a distinctively Roman type. No objects of this date were hitherto known from Appleby. It was square, but had been crushed into a diamond shape. It could not be excavated, but was measured and photographed. The author concludes a Roman fort here, at the river crossing, 5 miles from Kirkby Thore. (8)

RCHM Westmorland file for Appleby parish has a cover note from H G Ramm to Dufty and a copy of the report on the probable Roman well found in 1967. The site, in the crook of the river, is held suitable for a Roman settlement. (9)

Additional reference. (10)

Listed by Cathcart King. (11)

Additional reference. (12)

First documented 1154-7, it was confiscated by the Crown in 1157 and regranted to the Morevilles. It was again confiscated by the Crown between 1173-9 and granted to the Valognes until 1190, after which it was reconfiscated. (13)

Listed with plan and illustrations. (14)

One of the principle border fortresses, Appleby Castle came into royal hands in 1157 following the surrender by King Malcolm. It was granted to Hugh de Morville, and later to the Cliffords who carried out much of the later building work. (15)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1920

( 2a) General reference

Castles and Fortified Towers, Curwin, J F, 1913. Page(s)77

( 2) Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society

(W Douglas Simpson) 49 (1949) Page(s)118-133

( 3) by Sidney Toy 1953 The castles of Great Britain

Page(s)93

( 4) Field Investigators Comments

F1 BHP 05-FEB-69

( 5) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1957

( 6) Scheduled Monument Notification

Ancient Monuments of England and Wales 1965 104 (M.B.W.)

( 7) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

District of Eden, 21/03/1985 Page(s)7-9

(8) General reference

Holmes M 1974 Appleby Castle (handbook) 1

(9) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments

(10) Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, England 1936 An inventory of the historical monuments in Westmorland

Page(s)7-12

(11) David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume II : Norfolk-Yorkshire and the islands

2 - 1983 Page(s)489

(12) edited by Peter Furtado et al 1988 Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain

Page(s)164

(13) by R Allen Brown 1989 Castles, conquest and charters : collected papers

Page(s)102

(14) Denis R Perriam and John Robinson 1998 The medieval fortified buildings of Cumbria : an illustrated gazetteer and research guide

Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society extra series vol.29 Page(s)252-4

(15) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)553

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