List of castles in Greater Manchester

Map of Greater Manchester with the locations of castles:
  1. Buckton Castle
  2. Bury Castle
  3. Dunham Castle
  4. Manchester Castle
  5. Radcliffe Tower
  6. Rochdale Castle
  7. Stockport Castle
  8. Ullerwood Castle
  9. Watch Hill Castle
Radcliffe Tower is one of three fortified manor houses in Greater Manchester.

There are nine castles in Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. They consist of four motte-and-bailey castles, three fortified manor houses, an enclosure castle, and a possible shell keep. A motte-and-bailey castle is characterised by two elements: the motte is an artificial mound with a wooden stockade and stronghold on top, usually a stone keep or tower,[1] while the bailey is a defended enclosure adjacent to the motte, typically enclosed by a ditch and a bank topped by a timber palisade or stone wall.[2] Motte-and-bailey castles were the most common type of castle in England following the Norman Conquest.[3] A shell keep was a motte with a stone wall rather than a wooden stockade on top; there would have been no tower within the walls.[4] Four of Greater Manchester's castles are scheduled monuments: Buckton, Bury, Radcliffe Tower, and Watch Hill. A scheduled monument is a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.[5]

The purpose of a castle was not simply militaristic, but was also considered to be a stamp of authority over the population of an area and a status symbol. Some would have acted as centres of trade and administration for a manor.[6] The earliest castles in Greater Manchester are Dunham Castle and Watch Hill Castle in Trafford, Ullerwood Castle in Manchester, and Stockport Castle in Stockport. Dunham, Ullerwood, and Stockport castles were first recorded in 1173 as belonging to barons who had rebelled against Henry II,[7] and Watch Hill likely dates from this period; and at least three were motte-and-bailey castles, probably because of the speed and ease with which they could be erected.[8] Hamon de Massey, who owned the Trafford castles and Ullerwood, and Geoffrey de Constentyn, who owned Stockport Castle, were two of the three rebels from Cheshire; the other was the Earl of Chester, the owner of Chester Castle.[7]

Castles continued to be built in the area, although the last to be built in Greater Manchester were two fortified manor houses near Bury, built more for comfort than as utilitarian military structures. Bury Castle and Radcliffe Tower followed the national trend in the 13th century; they would most likely have acted as the centre of the manor they served.[9]

  1. ^ Friar (2003), p. 54, 214.
  2. ^ Friar (2003), p. 22.
  3. ^ Rowley (1997), p. 71.
  4. ^ Friar (2003), p. 259.
  5. ^ "Scheduled Monuments". PastScape. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  6. ^ Friar (2003), p. 186, 193.
  7. ^ a b Arrowsmith (1997), p. 31.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Watch Hill was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Friar (2003), p. 186–7.