Today’s photo shows a view of Swine church in the middle distance as taken from the top of Bransholme Castle.
Attended an excellent guided walk recently to Bransholme Castle led by Neil who works at the Hull History Centre, this being their contribution to the Hull Heritage Week. His detailed knowledge was very impressive and what is more he set it in the context of surrounding high status sites of the middle ages across western Holderness.
Two things surprised me from the outset; one, that the mound or motte is a natural feature, not man-made; secondly, that it is not a Norman motte, as usually defined. The natural post-glacial deposition mound may well have been heightened at some point but, as at Skipsea Brough, is mostly natural. In the 11th century the Sayer manorial family of Sutton/Drypool area held the mound and probably had some form of fortified residence there, this later taken over by one of the Lords of Holderness when the Sayer male line ran out. Clearly from the surviving earthworks the ‘castle’ had a bailey and almost certainly defensive fencing. The castle is near a wetland area known in bygone times as Bransholme, the satellite town is not on the traditional site but was given the name.
The second interesting guided walk of Heritage week was entitled Hull and the Reformation, led by the expert Helen Good. A very interesting circular walk starting at Beverley Gate wit the final stopping point at the South Blockhouse. Helen’s interesting take is that the Reformation was not just the Dissolution and follow-up changes of Edward’s short reign, but an ongoing cultural era of over 150 years, a perspective she displays in events in Hull between the 16th and 18th centuries.