The castle was constructed during the first half of the 14th century to defend Holme Cultram Abbey and was ruinous by 1572. Repair work was carried out in the 1630s, but by the latter half of the 17th century the castle had been demolished. There are earthwork remains of a dry moat and traces on the island of building foundations and robber trenches. There are two upstanding blocks of masonry showing that the castle’s walls were over 2m thick.
(The above information was obtained from the Pastscape website)
For a copy of a full scale map showing the location of Wolsty Castle, please see the attached pdf from English Heritage – 1013508.pdf
Below are some photos of the archaeological dig carried out at Wolsty Castle in July 2013, courtesy of Andrea Sowden.
For more information about Wolsty Castle check out the following websites:-
Gatehouse – A comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales and the Islands.
English Heritage – List entry summary – Moated site of Wolsty Castle
Cumberland News – The lives of the people of the Solway Plain across the ages
For more pictures of the archaeological dig have a look at the Solway Wetlands facebook page here.