Blackrod Castle Croft
Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Motte)
There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains
| Name | Blackrod Castle Croft |
| Alternative Names | |
| Historic Country | Lancashire |
| Modern Authority | Bolton |
| 1974 Authority | Greater Manchester |
| Civil Parish | Blackrod |
Possible Medieval castle mound, now mostly destroyed by housing development. Earthworks consisted of an elongated oval mound 29m by 16m at the top, and 2.3m high above a broad terrace way which flanks the north east side. Excavations in 1952 discovered a possible robbed out building and finds including Medieval coins and pottery and post-Medieval pottery. Later prehistoric finds including flint implements were also recorded. (PastScape)
Castle Croft at Blackrod, near Wigan, which dates from the 17th century (VCH 1908), is traditionally the site of a castle (VCH 1911). The entrance to it, and the ditch are said to have been "plainly discernible" pre-1846. A 'crown' and a large key are among items found on the site (Hampson). (VCH).
Earthworks in Castle Croft now consist of an elongated oval mound 29.0m by 16.0m at the top, and 2.3m high above a broad terrace way which flanks the north east side. This merges at the north end with a narrower terrace. In their present form, the works do not represent an orthodox complex, but some form of castle mound seems likely (F1 JHO 12-AUG-52).
Castle Croft consists of a double mound forming a figure 8, lying approximately north west to south east. A small excavation was made on the top of the north west mound in 1952 within the area of foundation trenches for a new bungalow. No structural remains were found although disturbance suggests the possibility that a building had been removed. Two 15th century coins, 16th to 19th or 20th century pottery, a loomweight fragment and a flint flake, scraper and heat cracked core of the Mesolithic to Bronze Age period were recovered. Further trenching located the surrounding ditch of the castle, with 14th to 15th century pottery on the rim, its position marked by a platform which interrupted the slope of the mound on the north side
All finds now in Manchester Museum, Accn No 0 8843.
The excavation suggests that Castle Croft was a defensive site in the middle ages (Willett).
The major part of this site has now been destroyed by housing development (F2 ISS 12-NOV-75). (PastScape)
Not scheduled
Not Listed
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | SD619106 |
| Latitude | 53.5912208557129 |
| Longitude | -2.57676005363464 |
| Eastings | 361920 |
| Northings | 410670 |
