Liddel Castle (3)
From this angle it can be seen that there was an earthen parapet on the forward edge of the bailey. In the 12th century when the castle was first built, this bank would have been topped with a palisade. We know that most if not all of the buildings within the bailey and on the motte were of timber as well, as we are told that in 1281 the castle was falling into decay, and that at that time “Lydel, the site of a Castle, contained these ‘domiciles,’ viz., a wooden hall, with two ‘solars,’ a chapel, a kitchen, a byre, a grange, and a wooden granary, which threaten ruin.”
As one would suspect from its location, Liddel Castle changed hands on various occasions during the War of Independence, and it is reasonable to assume that whoever held it, occupied their spare time restoring and improving it. That they rebuilt in stone is evidenced by a description written by the Rev. James Arkle, Minister of the Parish of Castleton from 1792 to 1801, who wrote that the foundations and a portion of the wall were then standing. In 1839 the fosse and ramparts were entire, however by then no masonry remained except a circular well in the centre of what may at one time have been a courtyard. Like all such buildings until quite recent times, the castle formed a ready made quarry for the purpose of constructing farm and other buildings in the district.
Liddel Castle (3)
From this angle it can be seen that there was an earthen parapet on the forward edge of the bailey. In the 12th century when the castle was first built, this bank would have been topped with a palisade. We know that most if not all of the buildings within the bailey and on the motte were of timber as well, as we are told that in 1281 the castle was falling into decay, and that at that time “Lydel, the site of a Castle, contained these ‘domiciles,’ viz., a wooden hall, with two ‘solars,’ a chapel, a kitchen, a byre, a grange, and a wooden granary, which threaten ruin.”
As one would suspect from its location, Liddel Castle changed hands on various occasions during the War of Independence, and it is reasonable to assume that whoever held it, occupied their spare time restoring and improving it. That they rebuilt in stone is evidenced by a description written by the Rev. James Arkle, Minister of the Parish of Castleton from 1792 to 1801, who wrote that the foundations and a portion of the wall were then standing. In 1839 the fosse and ramparts were entire, however by then no masonry remained except a circular well in the centre of what may at one time have been a courtyard. Like all such buildings until quite recent times, the castle formed a ready made quarry for the purpose of constructing farm and other buildings in the district.