Skipsea abandoned Norman castle site wows archaeologists

Thousands of visitors flock to UK castles each year, some with links to Harry Potter, others with a long history of sieges, but for two archaeologists from the University of York, the site of what was a remote Norman castle in East Yorkshire is just as alluring.

The castle near the village of Skipsea was built in about 1086, according to English Heritage, and was the residence and administrative centre of the Lords of Holderness.

Little evidence of it remains today, but recent research has revealed that the motte – or mound – previously thought to have been created by the Normans, actually dates from the Iron Age.

Archaeologist Dr Elaine Jamieson, fieldwork project manager, said the site had a fascinating history.

“I probably see it with completely different eyes to the tourists who are looking for a stone castle, but I see the castle in all the earthworks,” she said.

“Our work up here on this ridge suggests it might have had two baileys – one on the ridge – and one on the other side of the motte,” she said.

The castle would have likely originally have been built from timber, before being rebuilt in stone, she added.

After the castle was abandoned, Dr Jamieson said it was possible local villagers took the stone to use elsewhere.

The area was controlled by the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, Harald Godwinson, and, after the Norman Conquest of 1066, became the estate centre of the Lords of Holderness.

“After the Norman Conquest, this land was given by William the Conqueror to Drogo de la Beuvrière, who was a Norman, and a knight who fought with him at the Battle of Hastings,” Dr Jamieson said.

“He [Drogo de la Beuvrière] was also married to William the Conqueror’s niece, who he allegedly murdered before fleeing back to France.

“The land was then given to Odo, Count of Champagne – and it was more likely than not that it was him that built the castle,” she added.

Dr Jim Leary, from the University of York’s archaeology department, said interest at the site went way back beyond Norman times.

“We know that the earlier stages of the mound are Iron Age – probably a burial mound – and then later on that was adapted as a medieval motte,” he said.

“The surrounding area would have once been very different,” he said.

“This was one huge lake and Holderness was a really watery area, with a whole series of lakes – sort of like beads on a necklace.”

He said it would have been a lush, rich area – wonderful for fishing and fowling and would have drawn people to it.

“We know from the archaeology that we have been finding there were hunter gatherers in the Mesolithic period, and then in the Neolithic and Bronze Age [and] right the way through to the Iron Age,” he said.

“This would have once been an island protruding out of the lake,” he told the BBC’s Hidden East Yorkshire podcast.

According to English Heritage, the castle declined from about 1200 when the lords of Holderness moved their administrative residence to Burstwick, east of Hull.

It was ordered to be destroyed in 1221 when Count William de Forz II rebelled against the king. By 1350, the castle was being leased for pasture and the borough was abandoned.

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