Castle Folds
 | |
| Location | Cumbria,England grid referenceNY6501409305 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 54°28′41″N2°32′25″W/ 54.47808°N 2.54029°W |
| Type | hut circlesettlement andshieling |
| History | |
| Periods | Roman Britain |
| Designated | 8 December 1938[1] |
| Reference no. | 1011141[1] |
Castle FoldsorCastlesteadswas aRomano-Britishwalled settlement onGreat Asby Scar– an area oflimestone pavementin the parish ofAsby,Cumbria,England. In medieval times, it was used as ashieling– a temporary summer shelter. It is now in ruins but is protected as ascheduled monument.[2]
Construction
[edit]The settlement covered most of a small knoll on thelimestone pavementof the scar. A walled enclosure surrounded most of the knoll and, on the western side, the eight-foot thick walls extended the steep escarpment of the knoll to form a significant obstacle. The area enclosed is about 1.25 acres. There were about a dozen stone huts built into the walls of the enclosure so that the central space was open.[3]
The wall was constructed fromorthostats– standing stone slabs – which enclosed rubble. Aparapetwould have made the wall's height about thirteen feet in total – comparable with a standard Romanvallum.The construction of the walls and huts is not Roman in pattern andR. G. Collingwoodsuggested that this was an example of thecastella Brigantum(forts of theBrigantes), which appear in the work ofJuvenal.[4]
The substantial wall, elevation and surrounding stone pavement made the settlement well-fortified and better protected than other comparable settlements, which only aimed to deter light raids and thefts of stock. The outside slabs at the base of the wall have all been ripped out which indicates that the wall was destroyed by hostile action.[1]
The later medievalshielingwas a rectangle of about 24 x 10yards(22 x 9metres) next to the south wall. There was a partition wall making it into two rooms.[1]
References
[edit]- ^abcdHistoric England(10 March 1994)."Castle Folds Romano-British defended stone hut circle settlement and medieval shieling (1011141)".National Heritage List for England.
- ^"Castle Folds",Gatehouse,26 July 2017
- ^"Asby",An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Westmorland,London, 1936, pp. 15–20
{{citation}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^I. A. Richmond (1933),"Castle Folds by Great Asby"(PDF),Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society,33(2): 233–237
Further reading
[edit]N. J. Higham; G. D. B. Jones (1975), "Frontier, Forts and Farmers: Cumbrian Aerial Survey 1974–5",Archaeological Journal,132(1): 16–53,doi:10.1080/00665983.1975.11077578
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