A Scheduled Ancient Monument Overlooking Carrbrook Village.
Buckton Castle is a medieval ringwork/a good example of a Norman motte and bailey castle and is likely to have been constructed in the 12th century on the site of a prehistoric hillfort.

Above is a modern ariel view of Buckton Castle and to the left is an 1882 map of the Carrbrook area showing the location of Buckton Castle.

Buckton Castle sits atop a sandstone ridge at 335 metres above sea level and is 45 metres by 35 metres in size. The site holds a well in its south west corner and has been protected as a scheduled ancient monument since 1924.

Buckton Castle was surrounded by a mound and ditch system of earthwork and was erected as a defence in the then important location. Motte and bailey castles/ringworks were quick and cheap to construct from local materials such as stone and wood. In the photograph to the right part of Buckton Castle's outerbank is on right, the ditch is to the centre of the photograph, and in the background is Buckton Moor.

Around present day Mossley several Norman Lordships met and the river Tame was the natural divison between them. In the Doomsday Book (1086) Salford is mentioned as only good for hunting, Quick in Mossley was a collection of farmsteads. Buckton Castle lay within the medieval Lordship of Longendale and allowed extensive views across the Tame Valley below.

The cost of construction is likely to have been bourne by the Lord of Longendale; William de Neville and his wife Amebilia, had been granted the land by 1181. Motte and bailey castles were not built in England after the reign of Henry II (1154-1189) and so Buckton Castle may have been one of the last to have been built. Troops could have been garrisoned within its perimeter. Buckton Castle is the oldest surviving building in Tameside.

One of the most significant features of Norman Castle building was the trend of being built near to existing lines of earlier Roman communications. Directly below Buckton Castle lies the Roman Road that linked Melandra fort in Glossop to the South and Castleshaw fort near Delph in the North. The road would have allowed the speedy movement of troops and supplies to and from Buckton Castle. The castle was abandoned by 1360.

Greater Manchester Archaeology Unit, based at Manchester University, is due to do a dig at Buckton Castle in 2003- 2004. A pocket book history of Buckton Castle is due to be published in 2004-2005.

In 1536 beacons were lit at Buckton Castle as a march on foot to plead for the monasteries invited people to join in the enterprise. The King scattered the rebels by force!

In 1558 the beacons were lit to warn people of the approaching Spanish Armada and to signal the militia to assemble!

Buckton Castle is the place where in 1730 the people of Carrbrook dug expecting to find buried treasure!

Many thanks to William A Westhead for his research paper on Buckton Castle.