York Historic Environment Record

The Castle Mills, first mentioned in about 1135, were soon afterwards granted to the Knights Templar. On the suppression of the Order they came into the king's possession in 1312 and in 1464 were granted to St. Leonard's Hospital. At the dissolution of the Hospital they were retained by the Crown until 1570 and soon afterwards were part of the endowments of Sir Thomas Hesketh's Hospital at Heslington. After severe damage by an explosion in 1643 when used to grind gunpowder, they were rebuilt in 1650, perhaps on a slightly different site, and in 1778 equipped with a steam engine. They were finally demolished in 1856.

'York Castle', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in City of York, Volume 2, the Defences (London, 1972), pp. 57-86.

Position of the old Castle Mills is shown on the 1852 Ordnance Survey map

NMR Information

Civil War Gunpowder Mills, recorded as being severely damaged in 1643, when a nearby mill used to grind gunpodwer blew up.

1073973 Measured Survey RCHME: Dangerous Energy Project

People and Organisations

Manufacturer Castle Mills 1642 1643
Recorder WAYNE COCROFT Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England 1994-04-01 1997-03-01 RCHME staff: Keele 1986-97, Cambridge 1997-present (Audit Group: SURVEY)

RCHME, 1972, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of York, Volume II The Defences (Monograph). SYO63.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.