Register of ancient monuments
Reference number 1005806
Castle Hill Earthworks
Kirklees Park
Wakefield Road
Brighouse
Calderdale
DESCRIPTION OF SITE
Site visit: 13/JUN/1935
This small camp stands on an eminence overlooking a ford over the River Calder. The western side has disappeared, probably when the turnpike road was made. The rampart has also been levelled on its northern side. This camp, though small (about 70yds square), was evidently of some strategic importance.
Site visit: 10/SEP/1986
The enclosure known as Kirklees Park Camp is situated in a good defensive position on a hilltop with a steep descent on the S side. This appears to be a univallate hillfort roughly rectangular in shape with a rampart about 3ft-4ft high. In places stones show through the bank, mainly sandstone cobbles. These appear to be arranged in an orderly row in some places and not just randomly heaped. The internal area is more or less level but now so overgrown that it is not possible to distinguish any features. In the centre is a C19th ivy-clad tower bearing the date MCM. The hilltop to the E of the enclosure is a small plateau which could have been useful for grazing animals in prehistoric times. There are other interesting features close by: for example there is a possible tumulus about 200yds NE of the site. In the wood about 200yds the the E is a small rectangular enclosure, 12ft by 8ft with a low wall topped by railings and four fluted pillars at the corners. Within this enclosure is a large fragment of a stone slab with a faint carving on it which looks like part of a cross shaft. This is reputed to be Robin Hood's grave. Local legend has it that he died at Kirklees Priory, the ruins of which lie about 250yds N of the camp. Robin Hood is said to have fired his last shot through the priory window declaring that where it fell he wished to be buried. The story is certainly in typical Robin Hood style but whether there is any authenticity about the grave (??). The priory site is not yet scheduled. Little remains except what appears to be the gatehouse, the foundations of the church and possibly a barn.
