SANDAL CASTLE

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DESCRIPTION

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Norman castle mound and bailey. The castle was damaged circa 1317 and rebuilt from 1328 until the late 14th century. Slighted during the Civil War. Scheduled and Listed.

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[SE 3372 1816] Sandal Castle [G.T.] (Remains of) (1)

Sandal Castle, a motte and bailey, rebuilt in the 13th cent. destroyed c. 1317 and rebuilt in 1328. The castle was slighted in the Civil War and there are now only fragmentary architectural remains. See AO/LP/64/155.
Scheduled. (2-4)

Published survey (1:1250) revised. A well preserved castle mound and bailey with extensive out works. Little remains of any structural work but the ground plan of the castle is at present being uncovered by systematic excavations, by Phillip Mayes. [See illustration card for plan of castle as excavated by J.W. Walker
in 1893]. (5)

Definitive excavation and archive report. The castle was rebuilt in stone from the early 13th century, the keep eventually being a massive structure with four towers, two of which flanked the gateway. Three buildings of the early, timber phase were excavated, only two of which were capable of interpretation. An early, timber-framed building, was replaced by an aisled hall and a square, timber-framed kitchen.

The motte was built of mixed soil and shaley rock, to combat instability. There was also an outer layer of clay, possibly to prevent attackers gaining a good foothold. There was little evidence of ancillary buildings within the bailey, probably because the later, stone, buildings replaced them directly. Although there is documentary evidence for destruction of the castle by John, Earl of Lancaster, in 1317, there was little evidence of this save for a small area of burnt soil on the South side of the bailey.

The earliest stone structures at Sandal may date to the early 1200's. The massive keep was built later in the 13th century, but there is no evidence that it ever replaced an earlier shell keep. The main circle provided the living rooms and the towers or turrets the private accomodation. At a later date, two drum towers were built at the end of a passageway projecting into the bailey to give greater protection to the keep entrance, and a barbican was constructed beyond these, an unusual feature of military architecture in English castles. The later main stone phase shows that the lord occupied the keep, his immediate retinue the barbican, while the retainers occupied the bailey.

The bailey, to the South-East of the keep, was comparatively lightly fortified. The main gatehouse lay in the North-East side. The castle's domestic buildings were built against the curtain wall, and lay mainly against the South and East sides. In its final phase, it included a bakehouse, kitchen, larder, lodgings, great hall, great chamber and constables lodgings.

The castle was modified several times during its occupancy. By 1562, it was documented as badly decayed, the keep and barbican perhaps having been abandoned. During the Civil Wars, very few alterations were made to the castle, those few outworks that were added lacking sophisticated construction. There is no certain evidence of slighting by the victorious Parliamentry forces in 1645. (6)

SE 3377 1813. Sandal Castle: motte and bailey castle and shell keep (sic) castle. Scheduled RSM No 13293. (7)

Additional reference. (8)

Listed by Cathcart King and Colvin. (9,10)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1956

( 2) by John L Illingworth 1970 Yorkshire's ruined castles : an account of their history, asssociations and architecture with a chapter on the fortified houses of the county

Page(s)90-3

( 3) Aerial photograph

St. Joseph GV 0028

( 4) Scheduled Monument Notification

Ancient Monuments in England and Wales, 1961 (M.O.W.) Page(s)115

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 RL 14-OCT-64

( 6) by Philip Mayes and Lawrence Butler ; edited by Shirley Johnson 1983 Sandal Castle excavations 1964-1973 : a detailed archaeological report

Summary, pp 73-82.

( 7) English Heritage 1995 County list of Scheduled Monuments : March 1994

West Yorks Page(s)10

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

Wakefield, 01-FEB-1979 938

(9) 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)524

(10) 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)828

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