Buckton Castle

Buckton Castle
Buckton Castle
	Buckton Castle, looking across the entrance causeway
	Location within Greater Manchester
General information
Architectural style	Enclosure castle
Town or city	Carrbrook, Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
Country	England
Coordinates	53°30′40″N 2°01′04″W / 53°30′40″N 2°01′04″W / 53.5112; -2.0178

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Buckton Castle was a medieval enclosure castle near Carrbrook in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, England. It was surrounded by a 2.8-metre-wide (9 ft) stone curtain wall and a ditch 10 metres (33 ft) wide by 6 metres (20 ft) deep. Buckton is one of the earliest stone castles in North West England and only survives as buried remains overgrown with heather and peat. It was most likely built and demolished in the 12th century. The earliest surviving record of the site dates from 1360, by which time it was lying derelict. The few finds retrieved during archaeological investigations indicate that Buckton Castle may not have been completed.

In the 16th century, the site may have been used as a beacon for the Pilgrimage of Grace. During the 18th century, the castle was of interest to treasure hunters following rumours that gold and silver had been discovered at Buckton. The site was used as an anti-aircraft decoy site during the Second World War. Between 1996 and 2010, Buckton Castle was investigated by archaeologists as part of the Tameside Archaeology Survey, first by the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit then the University of Salford's Centre for Applied Archaeology. The project involved community archaeology, and more than 60 volunteers took part. The castle, close to the Buckton Vale Quarry, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Location

Buckton Castle lies 335 metres (1,099 ft) above sea level on Buckton Hill, a steep sandstone ridge (SD98920162). To the south and west are the valleys of the Carr Brook and River Tame respectively. Buckton Vale Quarry is close to the east of the castle, while the town of Stalybridge is about four kilometres (2 mi) south-west of the site.^[1] To the north and north-east of the castle are areas of moorland with heather and peat.^[2] The site may have been chosen to allow the castle's garrison to guard the Tame Valley.^[3]

During the Middle Ages, Buckton Castle was at the eastern end of Cheshire. The county shares its western border with Wales.^[4] Both the castle and valley were in the medieval manor of Tintwistle.^[5] A manor was a division of land administered by a Lord of the Manor or his representative;^[6] in Tintwistle's case, it was part of the larger lordship of Longdendale.^[7]^[8]

Compared to Herefordshire and Shropshire, which were also on the Anglo-Welsh border, Cheshire has far fewer castles per square kilometre. Most of the county's castles are close to the western border where the historically richer parts of Cheshire are concentrated. The county is mostly lowland, and Beeston is the only other castle in the area that rises as prominently above the surrounding landscape.^[4] According to the archaeologist Rachel Swallow, hilltop castles in the area, which include Buckton, Beeston, Halton and Mold, are "predominantly a symbol of significant offensive and elite personal power in these landscapes".^[9]

A late 16th-century map of Cheshire; Buckton Castle lies in the north-east of the county.
Buckton Castle is on a hill 335 metres (1,099 ft) above sea level.