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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.
Geoff Solomon s 1803 map showing the cartographer s folly of Streetlam castle between Danby Wiske and the Cowtons GEOFF SOLOMON in Danby Wiske, near Northallerton, was interested to see that the infamous John Bowes lived at Streatlam Castle because he has an 1803 map of his neck of the woods in which there is a Streetlam Castle marked. There is indeed a hamlet called Streetlam near Danby Wiske, but there has never been a castle there. The map is drawn by the noted cartographer John Cary, the pre-eminent map-maker of his generation who was renowned for his accuracy. So how did he come to make such a mistake?