Ghyll Grange

Has been described as a Questionable Pele Tower

There are no visible remains

NameGhyll Grange
Alternative Namesgrania de sigleden; Peell of Gillgrange
Historic CountryYorkshire
Modern AuthorityBradford
1974 AuthorityWest Yorkshire
Civil ParishSilsden

Possibly the site of the 'grania de sigleden' referred to in the Bolton Priory accounts of 1297. Sited on spur end overlooking the Aire valley; ridge and furrow in adjacent fields. If the site is not a monastic grnage, then it must have been a settled farmstead by 1379, when a Magota de Gylle paid the 4d levy under the Silsden township. Location map only indicates initial area of interest. ?17th-century map marks two buildings with Peell of Gillgrange next to one of them, just west (? or north-west) of Ghyll Grange. Could this be a former tower house? The early map is difficult to correlate with the modern O.S. but a possible site is a small enclosed field at SE 068 460. (West Yorkshire HER)

Description: The ‘Peell of Gillgrange’ is a marked on a 17th-century map as a small building north-west of the 13th-century monastic grange known as Ghyll Grange. This could indicate the former existence of a tower-house, and the situation at the tip of a prominent spur overlooking the Aire valley is suitable, although no remains are identifiable on the ground. (Creighton 1998)

Gatehouse Comments

Peel is an ancient term, which like castle, modern writers have sometimes tried to restrict in usage and then back impose this restriction onto medieval writers. However, during the several hundred years of the medieval periods, terms were used flexibly and the use changed and developed. In this case 'peel' may have just meant fenced enclosure in a once rather more open landscape, although a small timber or masonry tower can not be fully excluded.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSE068460
Latitude53.9101905822754
Longitude-1.89689004421234
Eastings406800
Northings446000
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Smith, A.H., 1961, The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Part 6 East & West Staincliffe and Ewcross Wapentakes (English Place-Name Society 35) p. 21, 23

Other

  • Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 773 online copy