- Bury Castle
Infobox Historic building
caption=
name=Bury Castle
location_town=Bury ,Greater Manchester
location_country=England
map_type=Greater Manchester
latitude=53.593708
longitude=-2.297028
architect=
client=Sir Thomas Pilkington
engineer=
construction_start_date=
completion_date=1469
date_demolished=
cost=
structural_system=
style=Fortifiedmanor house
size=Bury Castle is an early
medieval moatedmanor house inBury ,Greater Manchester (gbmapping|SD803108). It is listed as aScheduled Ancient Monument .cite web |title=Bury Castle |url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=45189 |publisher=Pastscape.org.uk Retrieved on 4 April 2008.] The manor house was built by Sir Thomas Pilkington – lord of the manors of Bury and Pilkington, and an influential member ofLancashire 's gentry – in 1469.cite web |title=Bury Castle |url=http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/tcsc/millennium2/Castle/Bury_Castle.htm |publisher=Eduweb.co.uk Retrieved on 4 April 2008.] He was given permission by Edward IV to: quote|"'build to make and to construct walls and turrets with stone, lime and sand around and below his manor house in Bury in the County of Lancaster, and to shut in the manor house with such manner of walls and turrets; also to embattle, crenellate and machicolate those towers."cite journal |last=Ashworth |first=Terry |year=Summer 1999 |month= |title=The Rediscovery of Bury Castle |journal=Bury Local History Society Journal |volume= |issue= |pages= |quote= ] It is situated on the top of a slope overlooking theRiver Irwell in a strong defensive position. Excavations have revealed there were six main construction phases on the site. The first phase was between 1359 and 1400 and produced a house platform surrounded by a moat. The building was razed to the ground on the orders of Henry VII after Sir Thomas Pilkington supported theHouse of York in theWars of the Roses , particularly theBattle of Bosworth Field in 1485. On top of this, all of Sir Thomas' lands were confiscated.In 1540, antiquary
John Leland described Bury Castle as "a ruin of a castle by the Parish Church in the town". In 1753,Thomas Percival drew plans of the visible foundations of the walls of Bury Castle, measuring nowrap|convert|600|ft|m| by nowrap|convert|270|ft|m|. The ruins were looted to provide building material for the town of Bury. In 1865, further foundations were discovered, this time of akeep or defensive tower nowrap|convert|82|ft|m| by nowrap|convert|63|ft|m| with walls nowrap|convert|6|ft|m| thick.The remains of Bury Castle drew public attention in 1973 when amateur archaeologists uncovered stonework that had previously lain underneath a car park. The site, which is owned by Bury council and has undergone "restoration and enhancement work", has been open to the public since 2000. [cite web |title=Bury's historic built environment |url=http://burydem.bury.gov.uk/aksbury/images/att2329.doc |format=DOC |author=Bury Metropolitan Borough Council |publisher=Bury.gov.uk |date=19 February 2004 Retrieved on 27 May 2008.] Bury Castle is about nowrap|convert|3.3|km|mi| north of
Radcliffe Tower , an early 15th century moated manor house.ee also
*
Castles in Greater Manchester
*Scheduled Monuments in Greater Manchester References
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