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<< Our Photo Pages >> Castlesteads (Walmersley) - Hillfort in England in Greater Manchester

Submitted by vagabondnma on Thursday, 26 February 2004  Page Views: 14870

Iron Age and Later PrehistorySite Name: Castlesteads (Walmersley)
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 2.526 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Greater Manchester Type: Hillfort
Nearest Town: Bury  Nearest Village: Walmersley
Map Ref: SD797129  Landranger Map Number: 109
Latitude: 53.612253N  Longitude: 2.30831W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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astralpilgrim visited on 22nd Jun 2012 - their rating: Cond: 1 Amb: 5 Access: 4

Castlesteads (Walmersley)
Castlesteads (Walmersley) submitted by Lilian_Lingwood : Southerly view of Castlesteads Hillfort at the Burrs countrypark in Bury, Greater Manchester. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Iron Age promontory fort located on the east bank of the River Irwell 550 metres south east of Banks Farm

Originally thought to have been civil war entrenchments. The remains show a defended settlement on a natural promontory the nose of which is cut off by a ditch running north to south. On the south side is the silted former channel of the Irwell. The fort interior is triangular and at the north east corner a rampart has been constructed to defend the top of the steep scarp to the north which continues past the ditch and into the east field.

More at Pastscape

It is very impressive from the valley. But access to the site on top is unfortunately out of bounds. The footpath goes round the hill and up to a similar height. The Country Park is worth a look round and the Steam Railway is an alternative view of the site - though I haven't tried it.

Castle Steads was excavated 1992 and shown to be a Late Iron Age/Early Romano-British Settlement. The excavations were only limited to 2% of the enclosure - 7 trenches, so they have very little to go on. But radiocarbondating gave a span of roughly 5th Century B.C. to mid 2nd Century A.D.

A hill fort of this kind, the report concludes, are rare in this area. There is also evidence based on other similar ones, that its origins are in the Bronze Age. Though there is no archaeological data as yet to back this up

Access:
Park at Burrs Country Park (there's a clue in the name) and walk up the river valley, past the Brown Cow pub (Real Ales and home cooked food). You can see the site jutting out on a bend in the river Irwell, (to the right of the river). The East Lancs railway (steam) runs behind it. Walk up the main footpath along the river bank and you will go right round it. The path eventually goes up hill and you can look back at the site (now only fields). There is no access to the actual site, but according to the report there's little to see anyway. Just a ditch or two (one possibly natural) which protect the less steep side (where the railway now is).

The report casts doubt on the site's use in the Civil War, believing it to be a folk memory of a far earlier time. The report can be read in Bury Library - in the Reference section. There's also a sketch.
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SD7912 : Caravan site at Burrs Country Park by Raymond Knapman
by Raymond Knapman
©2011(licence)
SD7912 : Mouse Trap by m0sgb
by m0sgb
©2007(licence)
SD7913 : River Irwell, Burrs Country Park by Gillian Rimington
by Gillian Rimington
©2006(licence)
SD7913 : Irwell weir and goit by Dennis Turner
by Dennis Turner
©2006(licence)
SD7913 : Burrs Weir by Dennis Turner
by Dennis Turner
©2006(licence)

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"Castlesteads (Walmersley)" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Castlesteads Iron Age Fort, Bury by Andy B on Sunday, 11 September 2022
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Castlesteads is an Iron Age promontory hill fort on the east bank of the River Irwell. Although there is no immediate access currently to the top of the site, there are good views of its steep slopes from Burrs Country Park. The hillside is now covered in trees, but you can get a sense of just how well defended this site was by walking around the bottom of it.

https://lancashirepast.com/2021/01/09/castlesteads-iron-age-fort-bury/
[ Reply to This ]

Recent Archaeological Discoveries in South East Lancashire by Andy B on Sunday, 27 October 2013
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Salford Hundred Heritage Society Press Release 18th December 2012

http://lancsarchaeology.wordpress.com/
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Castlesteads by vagabondnma on Monday, 28 March 2005
(User Info | Send a Message)
Condition:2
Ambience:3
Access:2

It is very impressive from the valley. But access to the site on top is unfortunately out of bounds. The footpath goes round the hill and up to a similar height. The Country Park is worth a look round and the Steam Railway is an alternative view of the site - though I haven't tried it.
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Castlesteads by Anonymous on Sunday, 05 October 2014
    Hello!
    I am a primary school teacher at Chesham Primary School and would be interested in making a visit to Burrs to look at Castlesteads as part of our Stoneage to Iron Age topic. Do you know of anyone who could help give some guidance on our visit, please?
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Castlesteads by vagabondnma on Monday, 28 March 2005
(User Info | Send a Message)
Background:
SD79701298 Castle Steads was excavated 1992 and shown to be a Late Iron Age/Early Romano-British Settlement. The excavations were only limited to 2% of the enclosure - 7 trenches, so they have very little to go on. But radiocarbondating gave a span of roughly 5th Century B.C. to mid 2nd Century A.D.

A hill fort of this kind, the report concludes, are rare in this area. There is also evidence based on other similar ones, that its origins are in the Bronze Age. Though there is no archaeological data as yet to back this up

Access:
Park at Burrs Country Park (there's a clue in the name) and walk up the river valley, past the Brown Cow pub (Real Ales and home cooked food). You can see the site jutting out on a bend in the river Irwell, (to the right of the river). The East Lancs railway (steam) runs behind it. Walk up the main footpath along the river bank and you will go right round it. The path eventually goes up hill and you can look back at the site (now only fields). There is no access to the actual site, but according to the report there's little to see anyway. Just a ditch or two (one possibly natural) which protect the less steep side (where the railway now is).

The report casts doubt on the site's use in the Civil War, believing it to be a folk memory of a far earlier time. The report can be read in Bury Library - in the Reference section. There's also a sketch.

I will try to photocopy and scan in the sketch of the site. I will also soon post a photograph of the site.
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