Member Login:
 Not a member? Register free!

Leeds ARTICLES

Castle Hill The Home Of Polictics

13th January 2009

Hunters and gatherers of the Mesolithic age are said to be the first people to set eyes on Castle Hill. During that period the hill and surrounding areas were covered in forests.

The Neolithic and Bronze Age saw widespread travel and trading through the Yorkshire Wolds, the Peak District and the Mersey. The artefacts unearthed at the site proved this.

During the early Iron Age the hill fort was built which covered the entire hilltop. AD43 saw the fortress being up dated, as there was the threat of attack from the Roman Empire.

The banks and ditches that still remain on the hill where made by the recutting and other alterations that was carried out during the Middle Ages.

The de Laci family built a castle on top of the hill and was mentioned in a charter of King Stephen in 1142 and 1154. A wooden stake and coin were found on the site by archaeologist and with radiocarbon the date was found to be between 1140 and 1160. Therefore it can be assumed that the castle was finished and inhabited during this period.

There is also evidence of a town being built on the hill as aerial photographs show a central roadway and regular plots for homes. It is believed that the town was abandon around the 1340s.

From the Middle Ages until the 19th century the hill was inhabited. However a warning beacon was placed on Castle Hill, which was part of a network that spread all the way to the coast.

The 1800s saw Castle Hill become a site for Chartists rallies and religious meetings. In 1883 a rally was held during the great weavers strike where over two thousand people came to here speeches.

The site was also used for bare-knuckled prizefights, dogfights, dogging and cockfights.

The tower on the top of Castle Hill was erected in 1897; it was to celebrate the sixty years reign of the British Empire by Queen Victoria. The tower was finally completed on June 24th 1899 and was opened by the Earl of Scarborough. It was named the Victoria Tower but it is often wrongly referred to as the Jubilee Tower.