Henderskelfe Castle

Has been described as a Certain Tower House

There are no visible remains

NameHenderskelfe Castle
Alternative NamesCastle Howard; Hinderskelf; Henderskelf; Hinderskelfe; Hinderskell
Historic CountryYorkshire
Modern AuthorityNorth Yorkshire
1974 AuthorityNorth Yorkshire
Civil ParishHenderskelfe

Henderskelfe Castle, built in the reign of Edward III by the Greystoke family, was in ruins in 1359. It was rebuilt in 1683 but was destroyed by fire in 1693 (Whellan 1859; VCH 1923; Pevsner 1966).

The remains of Hinderskelfe Castle, together with the village (SE 77 SW 11) and the church (SE 77 SW 12) was destroyed to make way for Castle Howard house in the years following 1699. Barley's redrawn central portion of the 1694 estate map (see SE 77 SW 11) shows the relationship between the castle and the present Castle Howard which is shown as a superimposed pecked outline. The true position of the former castle would therefore be at SE 7151 7006 (as shown on OS 6" 1958) and not at the original Ordnance Survey 1889 location at SE7163 6996. Barley added that if the castle had been located at the latter position it would have interfered with the making of the formal gardens which proceeded alongside the building of Castle Howard house (Barley, 1978). (PastScape)

This was held by the barons of Greystock. In 1359 it was in ruins but was possibly rebuilt as a tower house since Leland described it as a fine quadrant of stone having four toures buildid castelle like. This was burnt down in the early 18th century. (North Yorkshire HER)

Gatehouse Comments

Leland describes quadrangular building with four towers (the fortifications possible only added in about 1500). Excavated by 'Time Team' in 2002 and excavation continued for couple of years after this. Excavation results mainly showed the completeness of the demolition of the castle and associated village.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSE715700
Latitude54.1214408874512
Longitude-0.90736997127533
Eastings471510
Northings470060
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 27
  • Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlisle)
  • Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p. 19, 140
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 530
  • Pevsner, N., 1966, Buildings of England: Yorkshire: North Riding (London) p. 106-7
  • Page, Wm (ed), 1923, VCH Yorkshire: North Riding Vol. 2 p. 108, 110-11 online transcription
  • Whellan, T., 1859, History and topography of the city of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol. 2 p. 581 online copy

Antiquarian

  • Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England  (Sutton Publishing) p. 543, 550
  • Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 57-8, 64-5 online copy

Journals

  • Barley, M.W., 1978, 'Castle Howard and the village of Hinderskelfe, N. Yorkshire' Antiquaries Journal Vol. 58 p. 358-60

Guide Books

  • Several guides books for Castle Howard have been published most of which give only very slight information on Henderskelfe Castle and the medieval manor and owners.

Other

  • Time Team (Mike Aston et al), 2003, March 16 (1st broadcast), 'Castle Howard Yorkshire' Time Team TV Programme (Time Team, a Videotext/Picture House production for Channel 4) view online
  • Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 385 online copy