A FORTNIGHT ago, we showed an 1803 map which featured an expansive earthwork to the north of Northallerton which it referred to as Streetlam Castle. We thought that it was a “cartographer’s folly” – a deliberate mistake inserted by the map-maker so he could catch out anyone copying his work.
But, says Mike Rooney, there may have been some form of a castle at Streetlam, which is a hamlet near Danby Wiske. In his archaeological researches in the area, he has come across an entry in an old directory which reads: "On 11th May 1787, William purchased land at Streetlam Castle farm on the West Moor in Danby Wiske parish from William Wrightson, a gentleman of Morton Co. Durham. The farm had originally consisted of three closes but had recently been divided into seven closes and it consisted of arable meadow and pasture lands of about forty acres and was adjacent to the lane leading from Yafforth to Darlington."