Stainborough Castle
Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Ringwork Motte), and also as a Possible Masonry Castle
There are earthwork remains
| Name | Stainborough Castle |
| Alternative Names | Stainborough Low; Stainborough Lowe; Staynbroughe Lowe |
| Historic Country | Yorkshire |
| Modern Authority | Barnsley |
| 1974 Authority | South Yorkshire |
| Civil Parish | Stainborough |
Known as Stainborough Low and regarded by Elgee and Preston as a hill fort. The site is a commanding one. A Court Roll of James I (1613) mentions castle ruins called "Staynbroughe Lowe". In 1789 Horace Walpole erected a 'Gothic' building here (? Stainborough Castle) Its extensive garden has destroyed any earthworks (VCH; Elgee; Preston; Hall).
Condition unchanged. The site is a promontory and suitable for either a hill-fort or a motte, but the present earthworks appear to be the result of landscaping. 'Stainborough Castle', at SE 31570303, is Walpole's 'Gothic building' (Field Investigators Comments - F2 RWE 08-OCT-64).
SE 316030 "Possible hill fort site (Iron Age) beneath extensive later earthworks and buildings" at Stainborough (Challis and Harding 1975).
Listed as a possible Medieval ringwork (Birch 1981).
SE 315 030. Stainbrough Low {sic}. Listed in gazetteer as a univallate hillfort covering 0.80ha. (Hogg 1979). (PastScape)
STAINBOROUGH CASTLE (SE316031)
Although referred to by a number of sources as an Iron-Age hill-fort, this site, in the absence of any thorough or detailed investigation, may as readily be assigned to the medieval era as a ring-work for this is precisely its form.
It is located on a wooded, promontory site, 150m above sea level, half km to the south-west of Wentworth Castle, and two km south of Dodworth, overlooking the valley of the Dove.
The earthworks consist of a roughly circular enclosure, 50m in diameter, and the subject of a considerable amount of landscaping, as probably is the surrounding earthwork embankment. The Gothic gate-house, possibly replacing an earlier structure performing the same role, was built in the eighteenth century. Although no excavation has taken place to provide confirmation, it is likely that the site was developed in stone since a Court Roll of 1613 refers to the castle ruins
(Birch 1981)
It is also possible that there was a medieval castle, or fortification on the site of Stainborough Castle. The name 'Stainborough' derives from the Old English and Old Norse Stanburg meaning 'stone fortification', which is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 (Smith 1961, 312). This may imply the presence of a stone (Norman ?) castle in the area. Variations on the place name element 'Low', which derives from the Old English Hlaw or 'mound', occur in the area surrounding Stainborough Castle. A mention is made in a will of 1545 to ' Stayneburghe Lawe ' (Smith 1961, 313) and the Stainborough Manor Court Rolls for 1613 and 1615 mention 'castle ruins' on ' Staynbroughe Lowe' on two occasions (Walter-Hall 1924, 33, 35-6, 46; Ashurst 1991, 34). The field to the east of the site is named as 'Law Field' on the estate map of 1730, and the woods to the north and north-west of the castle have been known as Law Wood, Low Wood and Lowe Wood (1730 Estate Map; Ordnance Survey 1854; 1894).
The earthworks to the south and western sides of Stainborough Castle appear to have been formed by alterations to the natural slope of the promontory. These comprise of a series of steep scarps, forming a sequence of ramparts around the castle area. The ramparts vary in height from around 3 m to 7 m in height. The scale of these features is consistent with Iron Age, or perhaps medieval, fortifications. Indeed, it is clear from their scale and from the evidence of the cartographic sources, that such earthworks are not simply part of the mid 18th-century garden scheme, but existed in this area prior to this period.
Whilst not conclusive, the results of this survey do give further reasons to believe that the extensive earthwork terraces , which run around the slope of the natural promontory on which Stainborough Castle is located, pre-date the construction of the castle and the associated landscape, laid out in the mid-18th century. Both the documentary and cartographic evidence suggests that there were an earlier series of earthworks on the site. The scale and size of the earthworks, particularly to the north-west of the castle, are inconsistent with the overall garden design and are suggestive of an Iron Age hill fort. It is possible that the site was re-used as a fortification, or castle, during the medieval period. (WYAS 2006)