En un regard
Le château en bref
The site of Burton in Lonsdale Castle, known as Castle Hill, occupies the west side of the village, above the valley of the Greta, in the former West Riding of Yorkshire. It is a remarkably well-preserved motte-and-bailey castle, which is thought to have begun as a ringwork in the 12th or early 13th century before being raised into a motte, after a long interval, by means of an inner revetment wall.
In Domesday Book, Burton belonged to Whittington, an estate of Tostig, Earl of Northumbria. The Norman castle later passed to the Mowbrays, who made it the administrative centre of Burton Chase, a vast estate of some 300 km² between the Bowland Fells and Wensleydale. Its military role was probably modest: the pipe roll of 1129-1130 records a garrison of one knight, ten serjeants, a porter and a watchman. Henry de Malton is recorded there as royal constable in 1322, and the site went out of use between 1322 and 1369; the lordship later passed to the Earls of Derby.
The motte, 9.6 m high, carries a 3.3 m breastwork whose masonry shows through in places. A nearly square bailey measuring 57 by 51 m extends to the west and a second, crescent-shaped one to the south. Excavations in 1904 showed that the motte, baileys, ditches and banks had been paved.
