Many people entering Cockermouth Leisure Centre car park may not notice the mound in the grounds and those that do, may not realise its historical significance.
In fact, it is classed as an Ancient Monument by Historic England as a ‘motte’. Motte castles are medieval fortifications introduced into England by the Normans.
They consisted of an earth or rubble mound with a wooden tower on top surrounded by a defensive wall or fence. Mottes were of strategic importance allowing control of movement along river valleys and most had an enclosure alongside containing additional buildings, called a ‘bailey’.
It is thought that Tute Hill would have been constructed in the early 12th century and would have been superseded fairly quickly by the present Cockermouth Castle.
Tute Hill represents the initial origins of Cockermouth as a town and, as such, is key to its history.
Cockermouth Civic Trust have therefore produced and erected an information panel alongside Tute Hill that tells a bit about its story. The panel was unveiled by the Town Mayor, Julie Laidlow, on Monday 21st September. She said that it’s a great gesture of the Civic Trust to do this for the Town. The panel, whilst simple, is stylish and very informative.
There are a great many people in the town who don’t realise that there is such an important historic site here.
