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The lesser known castles of Wakefield

Four not-so well known castles in the Wakefield area.

By Phill RossPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 9 min read
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Sandal Castle, Wakefield.

Wakefield in West Yorkshire is known by the majority of people to have had two castles, one on Lowe Hill, commonly known as Cannonball Hill in Clarence park and of course the very well-known Sandal castle which is famous for being the site of the battle of Wakefield in 1460 and close to the site Richard Duke of York was brutally cut down and killed.

Lowe Hill (Cannonball Hill) Wakefield.

However within around a three-mile radius of Wakefield’s beautiful Cathedral it is possible that there were no less than four more castles.

Footpath and ditch leading to the river at Horbury

On a bend in the river Calder at Horbury, a plot of land stands overlooking the waterworks.

Allotments now take up this land but at one time it is suggested this was the site of a Saxon castle, there is some debate as to the exact location although Castle Hill where the allotments are is on high ground and there is a defensive looking ditch beneath the hill.

the curvature of the ditch leading to the left

I have written previously about Horsbury Castle (Horbury) in one of my books but for the purposes of this article I will share my thoughts on this site, I originally thought the bend in the river was a natural oxbow, however I have since discovered that this was caused by the building of the canal in the 18th century.

Armed with this information, I took another look at the defensive ditch which curves in the wrong direction to be a moat for the castle hill site, this made me wonder two things, was this ditch defending land where the waterworks now stands? Or was this the original route of the river?

The ditch overlooked by castle hill in the background.

There is a large expanse of scrubland unused but owned by Yorkshire Water adjacent to the ditch, although nothing shows on Lidar, but if this was a Saxon Castle it may have been a wooden fortress therefore its footprint would be minimal.

Further along the river and between this and Netherton lane we have an area of farmland known as Castlefields, although this stands a mile from the Horbury site could it be related?

Access to the ditch is by a public footpath which runs east to west along the river then diverts along the side of the ditch, or if coming from Horbury you can find the public footpath at the bottom of Dudfleet lane.

Our second elusive castle is one I had been searching for, for quite some years until my good friend Mr Cliff Jones stumbled on the location while researching.

Lofthouse is classed as part of Leeds, despite it only being three miles from Wakefield Cathedral, I was drawn to this location originally, not in search of a castle but of a Roman Marching Camp marked on the old maps.

A marching camp which turned out to be a 12th Century ditched farmstead, however during my research on this location I was given permission to metal detect land between Lofthouse golf course and the M62 Motorway, two large fields, one known as Little Castle, the other Big Castle and the road between them Castle head Lane.

I was informed by the landowner (who has since sadly passed away) that he recalled his Father and Grandfather discussing “the castle on the hill”, now they may have been referring to the public house on Leeds Road which is called the Castle, but they may have been referring to an actual castle.

My first thoughts was toward the only recognisable hill in the locality, around a mile west of Castle head lane we have Coney Warren and beyond this Castle Gate lane, with the hill of Coney Warren being a central point of the direction of both Castle head and Castle Gate.

Further research and metal detecting this area didn’t turn up much more information in regards to a castle, the name Coney Warren did give us another lead though, a Coney Warren is the name for a fortified rabbit warren, yes you read that correctly, a small castle like structure where rabbits were bred for the lords of the manor or those who could afford the delicacy as it was in the Medieval period, so was this the castle in question?

At first I believed this was the end of the trail until Cliff Jones sent me an excerpt from a book he had been reading, I don’t recall which book it was (no doubt Cliff will remember) but in it there was a suggestion that there had once stood a castle near Lingwell Gate.

This was at Aaron Green, and stood directly beneath where the M62 now runs, I am unsure of the evidence provided by the person who wrote the book, and there is nothing written in archaeological reports on the site, but if a castle did stand at this site it would explain the name of Castle head lane.

With this said there are two more pieces to the puzzle, on the north side of the motorway from Castlegate lane, we find a road named Dungeon Lane, is this in relation to a castle? The word Dungeon comes from the French word donjon, meaning an inner tower in a castle, the word was first used in the 14th Century.

Our 2nd piece of the puzzle comes in the form of an infamous religious order who were known to own land in the Lofthouse area, the Knights Templar, I am unsure what the land was used for by the Templar but can presume it was either tenant run or perhaps an unknown preceptory or farmstead, perhaps this was the site of the alleged Roman Camp.

If it was indeed a preceptory, we know that many of these were castle like structures, fortifications built to protect the wealth of the Templar, whatever the truth we can be certain that somewhere in the Lofthouse area there was a castle.

Our third castle is even more elusive than the last, there are no written academic accounts of this castle and it is in fact so unknown it was only ever written about in an 18th century poem accredited to Benjamin Clarkson of Alverthorpe Hall.

At Newlands nr Altofts we usually associate the site as an abandoned 18th century manor and village, yet the poem by Mr Clarkson suggests that it was the site of a grand castle and a bloody battle between the Yeomen of Wakefield and the Knights Hospitaler (Knights of St John).

In the poem he describes in detail how the Yeomen were rallied by Sir Richard Rich, Thomas Cromwell’s right-hand man, he tells how they marched through vale and marsh and were spotted on a nearby hill overlooking Newlands.

He tells of the battle that ensued and the aftermath, he also gives us a date, although cryptically, he tells us that it was King Harry who gave the order, and tells us that Catherine Howard was Harry’s wife, King Harry of course was Henry VIII and Catherine his fifth wife whom he was married to for only a year.

This gives us the date of 1541, the poem also tells us the battle took place at Lammastide, a time we know as the Harvest festival, so this gives us the months of Aug-Sept, with this in mind was this a factual battle, and was there really a castle at Newlands?

I have spent a long time researching the abandoned village and searching for the location of the castle, I discovered that the original village of Newlands stood below the castle but was lost in the 16th Century, years before Newland Hall was built.

So, the location of the current abandoned village wasn’t the location of the castle, there is a hill overlooking this site though where a summer house once stood, perhaps the castle was here? Or was it further afield?

The area of Newlands once covered Warmfield and here there is a mound which resembles a motte and bailey, standing by the side of the main road into Normanton on land that once belonged to a large hall standing nearby, this grassy hill could have been the location, it could also have been spoil from a quarry around half a mile away, what we do know is that there may be the remains of a castle somewhere.

The poem cannot be taken as 100% truthful, there are elements that scream fiction to us, for example: the two names given to the officers of the Knights of St John, Sir Vineyard Port and Sir Claret Vine, there is no evidence of these knights in the St Johns museum archives, and they appear to be a nod to wine.

Maybe Mr Clarkson didn’t know their names but knowing how the religious orders were known for brewing their own wines, he used these names in homage.

Perhaps this wasn’t a real castle and it was a fortified farmstead and manor house, the term castle simply means a fortified building after all, the romanticism of the poem gives me hope that it is based on facts, if you would like to read the full story of Newlands which includes a break down of the poem (which is quite long) I have posted it on Spooky Goings On in Yorkshire Facebook group or alternatively you can read it in my book Historical Mysteries of Wakefield.

Our final castle isn’t actually a castle, although it is thought there may have been a castle in Crofton at one time, Crofton Castle as it was known, was a large house which once stood on Towers Lane, although the house only built in 1853 by the Abbott family, it had crenelated towers and looked every bit like a castle on the horizon.

The closest this castle ever got to war, or battles was playing host to Italian prisoners of war as a POW camp in WW2, Crofton castle was destroyed by fire in 2004 and modern housing now stands on the site.

If you enjoyed this article please take a look at my other work by clicking on my name below, and if you are feeling generous and would like to show your appreciation feel free to leave a tip by clicking the TIP button.

Thank You.

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About the Creator

Phill Ross

I have been writing for 39 years starting out with poetry then moved on to song lyrics and music/band reviews,I now write mostly historical related books and I have written and self published 15 books to date.

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  • Joey Talbot29 days ago

    The quote about the castle at Aaron Green is from 'Topography and Natural History of Lofthouse and Neighbourhood' by George Roberts, published in 1882 (and available to view in Leeds Central Library). Roberts also lists the several castle-related field names in Lofthouse: "Great Castle Heads; Castlewell Heads; Castleheads; Over Castlewell; Hall Garth; Moat Close"

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