Frizington motte

Has been described as a Questionable Timber Castle (Motte)

There are no visible remains

NameFrizington motte
Alternative Names
Historic CountryCumberland
Modern AuthorityCumbria
1974 AuthorityCumbria
Civil ParishArlecdon And Frizington

Supposed motte now considered destroyed.

Curwen merely says 'on the Roman road from Egremont to Cockermouth'.

Curwen gives no source.

Collingwood includes this in his inventory but with a question mark.

Jackson states 'I have been unable to trace this site of find any record of it and may be that it was a spoil mound from an old quarry since removed.'

Evidence seems too slight to consider. (Perriam and Robinson 1998)

Gatehouse Comments

Gatehouse believes that Curwen probably was able to tell a spoil heap from a motte (although D.J.C. King does write that Curwen was 'no authority on earthworks'), although such errors do occur. Curwen source may have been Jefferson 1849. Certainly this area has hundreds of spoil heaps and something about this mound must have been different to Curwen. Frizlington does not seem to be an ancient village but a relatively modern place constructed to serve iron ore quarries and mines. The modern village centre is rather north of the focus of dwellings on the 1867 OS map. The Roman road did not follow the line of the modern road. The 1900 OS map show the line of the Roman road running for a short length across a field SW of Frizington Parks (NY039160) where a vague circular feature, with a rectangular feature within, can be seen on the air photo. This does not seem to be a quarry feature, but is most likely a pure artifice. The general location would seem unlikely for a castle but numerous 'park' place-names suggest something of high status in this area.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceNY039160
Latitude54.5314483642578
Longitude-3.48466992378235
Eastings303950
Northings516000
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 29) p. 100
  • Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carlisle: Carel Press)
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 95 (possible)
  • Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal: CWAAS Extra Series 13) p. 39
  • Collingwood, W.G., 1901, 'Remains of the pre-Norman Period' in H.Arthur Doubleday (ed), VCH Cumberland Vol. 1 p. 291 online copy
  • Jefferson, S., 1849, The Antiquities of West Cumberland (Carlisle)

Journals

  • Collingwood, W.G., 1923, 'An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Cumberland' Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol. 23 p. 258 online copy