York Historic Environment Record

The sconce on the Mount straddled the main road from Tadcaster. It was constructed in 1642-3 over the site of a Roman cemetery and near the remains of St. James' Chapel. Timber revetments were removed in 1649 and the disused earthwork became the site of a windmill, remaining fairly complete until 1742, when it was partly levelled for road widening. The last vestiges were destroyed in the early 20th century? Archer's plan of c. 1682 shows that it was a regular quadrilateral with angle bastions and a wide ditch. In plan and siting it closely resembled the surviving Queen's Sconce at Newark-on-Trent, but was only two-thirds the size. At the surrender it was described as 'a curious and strong work', and by William Stukeley in 1725 as 'a great sconce a little way off York called The Mount, consisting of four bastions raised in the civil wars'.

NMR information:

[SE 594 510]. An extra-mural defence work with earth ramparts was erected in 1642 at the Mount, previously called St James's Hill. (1-2)

The earthwork has been completely destroyed by modern development.
(3)

1a VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION York Corp Chamberlains Books 1642-3 28
1 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Md York 1955 306-7 (A Raine)
2 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Yorks Archit R.A.S. Ann Rep 1952-3 18-34 maps plans (LP Wenham)
3 Field Investigators Comments F1 RL 06-JUN-63

2002, Civil War Defences on The Mount (Unpublished document). SYO798.

York Archaeological Trust, 2016, The Mount Royal Hotel EVAL (Unpublished document). SYO1886.