Buckton Castle

Buckton Castle
Buckton Castle
Location within Greater Manchester
General information
Architectural style	Enclosure castle
Town or city	Carrbrook, Stalybridge, Greater Manchester
Country	England
Coordinates	53°30′40″N 2°01′04″W / 53.5112°N 2.0178°W / 53.5112; -2.0178
Completed	Late 12th century
Technical details
Material	Sandstone
Size	730 square metres (7,900 sq ft)

Buckton Castle is a medieval enclosure castle near Carrbrook, Stalybridge, England. It was surrounded by a 2.8-metre (9 ft) wide stone curtain wall and a ditch 10 metres (33 ft) wide and 6 metres (20 ft) deep. Buckton is one of the earliest stone castles in North West England.

The castle was probably constructed in the 12th century but fell out of use soon after. It is first mentioned in 1360 and by then it was lying derelict. The small number of finds retrieved during archaeological investigation of the site indicates that Buckton Castle may not have been completed.

In the 16th century, the site was used as a beacon for the Pilgrimage of Grace. During the 18th century, the castle was of interest to treasure hunters following rumours that gold and silver had been discovered at Buckton. The site was used as an anti-aircraft decoy site in the Second World War.

Between 1996 and 2010 Buckton Castle was investigated by archaeologists, first the University of Manchester Archaeological Unit then the University of Salford's Centre for Applied Archaeology as part of the Tameside Archaeology Survey. More than 60 volunteers were involved in the project. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and close to the Buckton Vale Quarry. The castle is overgrown with heather and peat, and there are no above-ground ruins.

Buckton Castle lies 335 metres (1,099 ft) above sea level on Buckton Hill, a steep sandstone ridge (grid reference SD98920162). To the south and west are the valleys of the Carr Brook and River Tame respectively. Buckton Vale Quarry is close to the east of the castle. Stalybridge is about 4 kilometres (2 mi) south-west of the site. To the north and north east of the castle are areas of moorland with heather and peat.