Thorganby Giants Hill

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Ringwork)

There are earthwork remains

NameThorganby Giants Hill
Alternative NamesGiant Hill
Historic CountryYorkshire
Modern AuthorityNorth Yorkshire
1974 AuthorityNorth Yorkshire
Civil ParishThorganby

Medieval promontory partial ringwork survives as earthworks. It lies on a natural spur between the floodplains of the River Derwent, lying to the east and a tributary named the 'Old Derwent' to the south. The earthworks form an arc on the north-west side of the promontory. The massive external ditch is 2m deep relative to the ground surface and the inner bank is 2m in height. Geophysical survey revealed the ditch extends further eastward from the earthworks. (PastScape)

The remains would appear to fall into the category of earthworks classified by King & Alcock as partial ringworks, rather than a motte and bailey. Situated on a natural SE spur between the flood plains of the River Derwent and the Old Derwent, which afford substantial protection on two sides, the work consists of a well-spread crescentic rampart with a massive external ditch on the NW side. This extends almost across the neck of land, except for a gap 25.0m wide, probably original, near the E flank. The ditch is 1.9m deep externally and 3.4m internally, while the rampart, much reduced by ploughing, now only attains a maximum height of 0.9m. The slightly greater inner ground level, approximately 0.6m above the outer, can be attributed to natural soil accretion. (PastScape ref. Field Investigators Comments–F1 DS 10-MAR-72)

A magnetometer survey was carried out over Giant Hill, Thorganby Grange, N. Yorkshire, for inclusion in the Humber Wetlands Project. The aim was to search for any buried archaeological features associated with the extant earthwork, believed to date no later than the 11th century AD. The data yielded disappointing results, dominated by a system of modern drains, and showed few archaeological anomalies. (Summary of Bray 1998)

Gatehouse Comments

Possible castle although may also be Viking camp (or both). There were several manors in Thorganby recorded in Domesday some of which can not be traced after the C14.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSE692396
Latitude53.8482093811035
Longitude-0.948400020599365
Eastings469280
Northings439620
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Van de Noort, R. and Ellis, S. (eds), 2000, Wetland Heritage of the Hull Valley. An Archaeological Survey (Humber Wetlands Project Centre for Wetland Archaeology University of Hull) p. 194-195
  • Williams, Alison, 1996, 'Castles and moated sites' in Neave, Susan and Ellis, Stephen, An Historical Atlas of East Yorkshire (University of Hull Press) p. 32-3
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 532 (possible)
  • Allison, K.J. (ed), 1976, 'Thorganby' VCH Yorkshire: East Riding Vol. 3 online transcription

Journals

  • Ramm, H.G., 1965, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 41 p. 331

Other

  • Bray et al, 1998, Giant Hill, Thorganby Grange, N. Yorkshire; Report on Geophysical Survey, December 1997 (Ancient Monuments Laboratory report 14/98) online copy
  • Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 629 online copy