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Community:
Your say:
Castle Hill Conservation Management Plan
Castle Hill - History
Michael Hall - October 2005
michael.hall@kirklees.gov.uk
Brief background to the history of Castle Hill
(Taken from Rumsby, J 'A Castle Well Guarded: the archaeology and history of Castle Hill, Almondbury' in
Haigh, EAH 1992. Huddersfield, a most handsome town Kirklees Council, Cultural Services)
The summit of Castle Hill is by far the most conspicuous landmark in the Huddersfield area. The Hill has for hundreds
of years been a place of recreation, and the easily discernable remains of past occupation have made it a subject for
legend, speculation and scientific study.
The hill owes its shape to an outlying cap of hard Grenoside sandstone, which has protected the softer stone beneath
from erosion. The first people to set eyes on Castle Hill were probably hunters and gatherers of the Mesolithic,
camping amongst the forests which at that time covered the land. In the Neolithic and Bronze Age, there appears to
have been widespread travel or trade along the river valleys connecting the Yorkshire Wolds, the Peak District and the
Mersey and Ribble estuaries. This is shown by various characteristic types of stone and bronze tools in a place far
from their points of origin.
A hillfort was constructed in the early Iron Age, around 555BC, which took up the whole hilltop. Later in its life
the hillfort was modified to improve the defences probably in response to the new threat from the Romans from AD43.
The banks and ditches that remain are not those left by the Iron Age people. They are much more the result of recutting
and other alterations carried out during the Middle Ages, modified by centuries of erosion. After the Norman Conquest
of 1066, Almondbury became part of the territory known as the Honour of Pontefract, which was held by the de
Laci family. It was they who established a castle on the hill. The castle is mentioned in a charter of King Stephen to
Henry de Laci of about 1142 to 1154, and archaeological excavation has provided a wooden stake, radiocarbon dated to
the late 1140s, and a coin of about 1160. It can be assumed that the castle was complete and occupied by the 1140s.
In the early 14th century there was an attempt to found a town on the hill. The town was laid out in the lower bailey
(and possibly elsewhere on the hill), and aerial photography under certain conditions reveals a central roadway
flanked by regularly laid-out plots. The town was probably abandoned by the 1340s, although memory of it may have
lingered, since the map of Almondbury drawn up in 1634 marks the hill as the site of a town.
After the end of the Middle Ages, Castle Hill remained uninhabited until the early 19 th century. Its prominent
position made it an ideal site for a warning beacon. There was a network of such beacons on prominent hills all over
the country, spreading out in lines from the coast.
Castle Hill’s flat top was a useful venue for large political, religious and other meetings. Chartist rallies
were held on the hill at least four times, in 1843 and 1848. During the great weavers’ strike of 1883 a rally of
between two and three thousand people braved bitter weather to listen to speeches by union leaders.
A tavern to cater for pleasure-seekers was first built on the hill in about 1810-11. A bowling green was formerly
situated to the south of the hotel. Other pursuits are recorded at Castle Hill included bare-knuckled prize fights,
dogfights and cockfights.
By 1897 Queen Victoria had reigned over the British Empire for sixty years, longer than any other monarch. A
permanent memorial of this event was planned in the form of a tower perched on the hill overlooking the town of
Huddersfield . Despite some difficulty raising the money required, the tower was opened by the Earl of Scarborough on
24 th June 1899 . Although often referred to as the Jubilee Tower , the correct name is the Victoria Tower . Designed
by Isaac Jones of London , it was built by the firm of Ben Graham and Sons of Folly Hall, using stone from Crosland
Hill. It cost £3,298, and was 106 feet (32.3 metres) high, which, added to the height of the hill itself, made
the top 1,000 feet (305 metres) above sea level.
During the Second World War it was suggested that the Tower should be pulled down, to prevent it from being used as a
navigation aid by Nazi bombers. In fact a few bombs were dropped near the Tower in 1940 and 1941, but these were
probably just random jettisonings. There was an anti-aircraft battery near the south-west end of the hill and a range
finder is located at the north side of the outer bailey, the remains of which may be seen, and pieces of shrapnel are
occasionally picked up in the adjacent fields.
Today the hill retains the remnants of all these past uses, and is a popular site for local people and tourists.
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