What is recorded here

Whorlton Castle is a Norman motte and bailey in North Yorkshire that grew into a tower house stronghold, anchoring a lived landscape of gardens, ponds, park pale, fields, a deserted village and a church. Its earthworks and remains record the change from military outpost to manorial centre before abandonment. The breadth of the site suggests generations shaping land, keeping fish, growing food and gathering in one place until the whole arrangement faded from use.

The National Heritage List for England records Whorlton Castle: a motte and bailey and tower house with associated garden, earthworks, ponds, park pale, field system, deserted village and church as a scheduled monument. The saved point comes from the centre supplied by the official record. Listing does not by itself mean that the public may enter the place.

Built by the de Vesci family in the late 12th or early 13th century, Whorlton Castle is remembered for its well-preserved motte and bailey design and its association with the historical development of medieval military architecture in northern England.

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