Above the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England, stands a lonely tower atop a hill, known as Castle Hill. The single tower, with its medieval-style turret, is not as old as appearances suggest. For Local Community and History Month, let’s look at the history and folklore surrounding the tower and hill visible for miles around a Yorkshire town created by the Industrial Revolution.
Well, I’m quite excited to write about a local landmark that dominates the landscape of the Huddersfield area. I’ve learned a thing or two about the site’s history, and even more interesting, some of the local folklore surrounding the hill that has captured the hearts and minds of the locals.
There has been human activity on the flat-topped sandstone hill for over four thousand years. While settlement was intermittent, it is agreed that there has always been a castle on site in some form.
Archaeological excavations of the site between 1939 and 1972 revealed most of what we know about the hill’s history. Before that, the history of Castle Hill was informed by local speculation. Some argued it had been the site of the stronghold for the Brigantian queen, Cartimandua, others said it was once the site of a Roman fort, and others (possibly with delusions of grandeur) the site of King Arthur’s Camelot.
The History of Castle Hill
During the excavations, various layers of the site have been radiocarbon-dated and settlement has been broken down into three phases, with long periods in between when the site was abandoned.
Neolithic
The earliest evidence of habitation on the site has been dated to 2151 BCE. This first settlement comprised simple shelters, but no defensive structures.
By around 590 BCE, a univallate fort (a six-foot stone rampart surrounded by a ditch and topped with a wooden palisade fence) had been built. The rampart was built from clay, supported by timber in the core. These defences were improved around 440 BCE when the site was occupied by the Brigante tribe (but not Cartimandua), however, the site was abandoned within ten years.
Around 431 BCE, the abandoned fort was destroyed by an unexpected fire. Note that this was centuries before the Roman conquest of Britain. Because there appeared to be no reason for a fire to start on an uninhabited site, local folklore spun the tale that a dragon resided within the hill. The excavations concluded that the rotten timber that had been used in the core of the rampart had created so much methane it combusted.
“…it does seem likely that the hill retained a sinister reputation among the English, who called it Wormeclyff.”
George Redmans
Redmans further explains that the word ‘cliff’ was once used for any steep bank, and the word ‘worm’ in old English meant a serpent-like, fearful creature that haunted old ruins or guarded lost treasure.
The Middle Ages
The medieval parish of Almondbury (now a suburb of Huddersfield) sits about ten miles lower on the long incline up to Castle Hill and following the Norman Conquest of 1066 was held by the de Lacey family.
By 1140, the family had built a small motte and bailey castle on the hill, but it was mostly used as a hunting lodge rather than a permanent residence. By 1340, the castle had been demolished, and the site abandoned once again.
“Almondbury, a little town standing upon a high and steep hill,… are seen the manifest tokens of a rampart, some ruins of walls and a castle, which was guarded with triple strength of forts and bulwarks.”
William Camden, Cartographer (1584)
Between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries, the elevated position of the site made it the ideal position to light warning beacons. A beacon was placed on the hill, ready to signal the approach of the Spanish Armada in 1588. To mark the centenary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, a beacon was returned to the site in 1988.
Modern History
Castle Hill was not occupied again until 1810, when someone decided to build a small alehouse. (After walking up there, you need a drink.) This was later purchased by the local temperance society which, obviously, stopped selling booze and turned it into a lodging house.
In the early 1860s, the Castle Hill Hotel was built in the medieval style beloved by the Victorians.
A bowling green was laid near the hotel and the site was a popular venue for sports such as bare-knuckle prizefighting and (the far from sporty and more vicious) dog fighting.
With the permission of Vinny Tyrell of V Moment Photography
They also held large outdoor meetings on the site. Chartist rallies had met on the hill since the 1840s and 3,000 people attended the rally during the 1883 weaver’s strike.
The Victoria Tower
The eighty-foot tower that now stands on the site was erected to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Officially known as the Victoria or Jubilee Tower, the cornerstone was laid on Saturday 25th June 1897, and the tower was officially opened on 24th June 1899 by the Earl of Scarborough. So that makes it 125 years old this year!
The Castle Hill Hotel, unfortunately, no longer exists. Plans to extend the hotel were passed in 2000, but the works did not follow the approved plans. By that time, the original hotel had been demolished and local opinion was against any further building on the site.
Now, the tower stands as a lonely sentinel, and there’s nowhere to buy a drink to quench one’s thirst after the steep walk up the hill. You can tackle the single-track lane up by car if you wish – but where’s the fun in that?
“I know of nothing that has been built in this district that has had such an elevating tendency as the erecting of the Victoria Tower. Go where you will you are involuntarily drawn towards it. Without obtrusion it insists upon being seen.”
Correspondent known as Cid, The Huddersfield Chronicle, 26th June 1899
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I’ll leave you with some drone footage of Castle Hill captured in 2016 by Huddersfield Outdoors. You can clearly see the footprint of the site of the destroyed hotel, the ramparts and the medieval well.
If you want to learn more about the local history where I live, check out these posts:
The Slaithwaite Moonraking Legend
Castle Hill, a good walk from Almondbury village heaven when a kid the pub was open, of course no children allowed, but a bottle of pop and a packet of Smiths crisps (you could only get plain) the blue wrapping of salt to search for when opened a quick shake heaven and sat on the grass looking down at Huddersfield town, what more can one ask for.