Castle Hill , Huddersfield Taken and adapted from " Rumsby , J . ' A Castle Well Guarded : the archaeology and history of Castle Hill , Almondbury ' " Castle Hill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument situated on a hilltop overlooking Huddersfield , in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees . It has been settled for at least 4 , 000 years . Experts regard it as one of Yorkshire ' s most important early Iron Age hill forts . The summit of Castle Hill is by far the most conspicuous landmark in Huddersfield . The Hill has been a place of recreation for hundreds of years and the easily discernible remains of past occupation have made it a subject for legend , speculation and scientific study . It can be located on UK Maps . Geology . The hill owes its shape to an outlying cap of hard Grenoside sandstone , which has protected the softer stone beneath from erosion . The slopes below Castle Hill are formed from alternating deposits of shale and harder sandstones and form a series of slopes and benches . Five coal seams lie within the shales of the lower slopes some of which have been extensively worked along the hillside , by adit s and shafts . Workings are visible in several places on the hillsides , and there is also evidence of old quarries , now infilled . History . Early History . The first people to set eyes on Castle Hill were probably hunters and gatherers of the Mesolithic age , camping amongst the forests which at that time covered the land . In the Neolithic and Bronze Age , there appears to have been widespread travel or trade along the river valleys connecting the Yorkshire Wolds , the Peak District and the Mersey and Ribble estuaries . This is shown by various characteristic types of stone and bronze tools in a place far from their points of origin . The hillfort was constructed in the early Iron Age , around 555BC taking up the whole hilltop . Modifications were made around AD43 to improve the defences , probably in response to the new threat from the Roman Empire . The banks and ditches that remain are not those left by the Iron Age people . They are much more the result of recutting and other alterations carried out during the Middle Ages , and then modified by centuries of erosion . After the Norman Conquest of 1066 , Almondbury became part of the territory known as the Honour of Pontefract , which was held by the de Laci family . It was they who established a small Castle on the hill . The castle is mentioned in a charter of King Stephen to Henry de Laci of about 1142 to 1154 , and archaeological excavation has provided a wooden stake , radiocarbon - dated to the late 1140s , and a coin of about 1160 . It can be assumed that the castle was complete and occupied by the 1140s . In the early 14th century there was an attempt to found a town on the hill . It was laid out in the lower bailey , and possibly elsewhere on the hill . Aerial photography revealed a central roadway flanked by regularly laid - out plots . The town was probably abandoned by the 1340s , although memory of it may have lingered , since the map of Almondbury drawn up in 1634 marks the hill as the site of a town . After the end of the Middle Ages , Castle Hill remained uninhabited until the early 19th century . Its prominent position made it an ideal site for a warning beacon , as part of a network of such beacons on other prominent hills all over the country , spreading out in lines from the coast . Modern history . Castle Hill ’ s flat top was a useful venue for large political , religious and other meetings . Chartist rallies were held on the hill at least four times , in 1843 and 1848 . During the great weavers ’ strike of 1883 a rally of between two and three thousand people braved bitter weather to listen to speeches by union leaders . A tavern to cater for pleasure - seekers was first built on the hill in about 1810 - 11 . A bowling green was formerly situated to the south of the hotel . Other pursuits are recorded at Castle Hill included bare - knuckled prize fight s , dogfights and cockfight s . By 1897 Queen Victoria had reigned over the British Empire for sixty years , longer than any other monarch . A permanent memorial of this event was planned in the form of a tower perched on the hill overlooking the town of Huddersfield . Despite some difficulty raising the money required , the tower was opened by the Earl of Scarborough on 24 June 1899 . Although often referred to as the Jubilee Tower , the correct name is the Victoria Tower . Designed by Isaac Jones of London , it was built by the firm of Ben Graham and Sons of Folly Hall , using stone from Crosland Hill . It cost £3 , 298 , and was 106 feet ( 32 . 3 m ) high , which , added to the height of the hill itself , made the top 1 , 000 feet ( 305 m ) above sea level . During the Second World War it was suggested that the Tower should be pulled down , to prevent it from being used as a navigation aid by German bomber s . A few bombs were dropped near the Tower in 1940 and 1941 , but were probably just randomly jettisoned . There was an anti - aircraft battery near the south - east end of the hill and a range finder is located at the north side of the outer bailey , the remains of which may be seen , and pieces of High explosive shell casings are occasionally picked up in the adjacent fields . These are often incorrectly referred to as shrapnel , which contained machined ball bearings around an explosive charge set to project them at a given altitude , or on impact . Today the hill retains the remnants of all these past uses , and is a popular site for local people and tourists . Overhead electricity cables were replaced below ground ( 2006 ) to enable kite users to make use of the hilltop winds . The Castle Hill Pub . A company , owned by two brothers - Mick and Barry Thandi - known as the Thandi Partnership bought the Pub adjacent to the Victoria Tower , which was a Free house , on land leased from Kirklees Borough Council , and applied for planning permission to renovate it . The planning approval required some of the original walls to be retained , the original dimensions to be kept and the cellars to be kept with no increase in the overall size of the building . Local stone was also required to be used in keeping with the farm buildings and housing in the area . During the rebuilding the brothers totally demolished the pub , dug out and increased the size of the cellars , the height of the roofline and the plan dimensions of the original building . These were noted in Huddersfield Civic Society Newsletter 2004 , page 8 . Concerned local residents objected and after several ignored warnings , by the building inspectors , the local council halted the building work . Eventually , after 3 years and a lengthy court battle , the pub was fully demolished , the cellars were filled in with the building rubble and the area covered . The steel girders used in the construction were cleared from the site by an outside contractor . Subsequent plans submitted by the brothers to rebuild the pub have been rejected by the council as they did not comply with the requirements previously specified to them . The matter remains unresolved .