BIBLIOGRAPHY

This a bibliography of texts which may be of interest for those who want to increase their understanding of the medieval castle etc. It is also the general bibliography that informs the comments made by me in this web site.

This is by no means a comprehensive listing of sources and texts although I do believe it is a reasonable selection of the best sources and texts available for English and Welsh medieval defenses.

Click on the highlighted title for a brief description of the book and it's publication details.

General Texts

These are textbooks giving a general overview of the form and function of castles and other fortifications;

• English Castles by R. Allen Brown
• Castles from the Air by R. Allen Brown
• Castles in Medieval Society by Charles Coulson
• Urban Castles by C. Drage
• Medieval Castles by Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham
• Castles of the British Isles by Plantagenet Somerset Fry
• Norman Stone Castles by Christopher Gravett
• The Castles and Walled Towns of England by Alfred Harvey
• Behind the Castle Gate by Matthew Johnson
• The Medieval Fortress by J. E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann
• Castellarium Anglicanum by D. J. Cathcart King
• The Castle in England and Wales: An Interpretive History by D. J. Cathcart King
• The English Castle by Francois Matarasso
• English Heritage Book of Castles by Tom McNeill
• Castle by Marc Morris
• Castles by B.H. St. J. O'Neil
• The Castle in Medieval England and Wales by Colin Platt
• The Medieval Castle in England and Wales A Social and Political History by N. J. G. Pounds
• Norman Castles in Britain by D. F. Renn
• The Castle Story by Sheila Sancha
• Castles in Britain by W. Douglas Simpson
• The English Castle (also published as 'Military Architecture in England during the Middle Ages') by A Hamilton Thompson
• The Decline of the Castle by M. W. Thompson
• The Rise of the Castle by M. W. Thompson
• Castles; Their Construction and History by Sidney Toy
• The Castles of Great Britain by Sidney Toy
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• Medieval Palaces: An Archaeology by Graham Keevil
• The Palaces of Medieval England by Thomas Beaumont James
• Medieval Bishops' Houses in England and Wales by M. W. Thompson
• The Royal Palaces of Tudor England by Simon Thurley
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• Fortress Britain; Artillery Fortifications in the British Isles and Ireland by Andrew Saunders
• The English Heritage Book of Channel Defences by Andrew Saunders
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• Town Defences in England and Wales by Hilary L. Turner
• Medieval Town Walls by Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham
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• Shielings and Bastles by H. G. Ramm, R. W. McDowell, Eric Mercer

Texts giving a closer view of the social, archaeological or architectural aspects of castles

• The Early Norman Castles of The British Isles by Ella S. Armitage
• Safe Sanctuaries by Christopher Brooke (Fortified Churches)
• Castles, Conquest and Charters by Reginald Allen Brown
• The History of the King's Works by H. M. Colvin et al
• Castles in Medieval Society by Charles L. H. Coulson
  • Structural Symbolism in Medieval Castle Architecture by Charles L. H. Coulson
  • Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation by Charles L. H. Coulson
  • Freedom to Crenellate by Licence: An Historiographical Revision by Charles L. H. Coulson
  • Battlements and the Bourgeoisie: Muncipal Status and the Apparatus of Urban Defence In Later-Medieval England by Charles L. H. Coulson (These 4 papers cover different aspects of licences to crenellate.)
• Castles and Landscapes by Oliver Creighton
• Shielings and Bastles: A Reconsideration of Some Problems by Philip Dixon
• Towerhouse, Pelehouses and Border Society by Philip Dixon
• Royal Power and Castles in Norman England by Richard Eales
• Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500 Volume I by Anthony Emery
• Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500 Volume II by Anthony Emery
• Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500 Volume III by Anthony Emery
• Discovering Medieval Houses by Anthony Emery
• Medieval Archaeology by Christopher Gerrard
• Life in the English Country House A Social and Architectural History by Mark Girouard
• Norman Stone Castles, The British Isles 1066-1216 by Christopher Gravett
• Castles of God by Peter Harrison
• Timber Castles by Robert Higham and Philip Barker
• Medieval Palaces: An Archaeology by Graham Keevil
• Medieval Fortifications by John R. Kenyon
• Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales by John R. Kenyon
• Castles in Wales and the Marches by John Kenyon and Richard Avent (eds.)
• Anglo-Norman Castles edited by Robert Liddiard
• Castles in Context by Robert Liddiard
• Dominion in the Landscape by Lucy Marten-Holden
• Life in a Medieval Castle by Tony McAleavy
• Henry VIII and the Development of Coastal Defence by B. M. Morley
• Castles and Cannon: A Study of Early Artillery Fortifications in England by B. H. St. J. O'Neil
• Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales by John Timbs and Alexander Gunn
• Some Account of Domestic Architecture in England by T. H. Turner and J. H. Parker
• The Moated Sites of Yorkshire by H. E. Jean le Patourel
• Earthwork Castles of Gwent and Ergyng AD1050 -1250 by Neil Phillips
• The History of The Countryside by Oliver Rackham
• Mottes: A Classification by Derek Renn
• The Castle Community by John Rickard
• Studies in Castles and Castle-Building by Arnold Taylor
• The Welsh Castles of Edward I by Arnold Taylor
• The Medieval Castle; Life in a fortress in peace and war by Philip Warner
• The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England by Abigail Wheatley
• The English Mediaeval House by Margaret Wood

General Medieval History

• The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216 by Frank Barlow
• England and its Rulers, 1066-1272 by Michael T Clanchy (Blackwell, 1998)
• Medieval Warfare A History Edited by Maurice Keen
• The History of The Countryside by Oliver Rackham
• An Historical Atlas of Wales by William Rees
• Norman England by Trevor Rowley
• The Norman Heritage 1066-1200 by Trevor Rowley
• Medieval England - A Social History and Archaeology from the Conquest to 1600AD by Colin Platt
• The English and the Norman Conquest by A Williams (Boydell and Brewer, 1995)
• The Oxford History of England From Domesday Book to Magna Carta 1087-1216 by A. L. Poole
• The Oxford History of England The Thirteenth Century 1216-1307 by Sir Maurice Powicke
• The Oxford History of England The Fourteenth Century 1307-99 by May McKisack
• The Oxford History of England The Fifteenth Century 1399-1485 by E. F. Jacob
• The Oxford History of England The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 by J. D. Mackie
• The Oxford History of England The Reign of Elizabeth 1558-1603 by J. B. Black

Significant Primary Source

• The Anglo Saxon Chronicle
• The Domesday Book

Texts dealing with Castle Studies

• Cultural realities and reappraisals in English castle studies by Charles Coulson
• Medieval Archaeology by Christopher Gerrard
• Tutor's Guide to Teaching Medieval Castles by Robert Liddiard
• British Castle Studies in the Late 20th and 21st Centuries by Sarah Speight

Books dealing with Specific Castles

• Dover Castle by Jonathan Coad
• The Tower of London by Geoffrey Parnell
• Hen Domen, Montgomary by Robert Higham and Philip Barker
• The Early History of Lincoln Castle edited by Philip Lindley
• Some other texts of similar quality exist for other buildings or sites and basic bibliographical references can be found on the individual web pages.

National Trust produce guidebooks for some of the castles in their care, these are of variable quality from the point of view of medieval castellology. Bodium castle has a fine guide, Powis castle has a poor one.

Other castles owned privately or by local authorities have guides of very variable quality, most are barely adequate, none reach the standard of CADW guides but a few are of interest. Some other authors and publishers produce books on individual castles. Some of the great castles like Windsor have numerous books, many of little value. Paul Martin Remfry has produced many texts on individual castle, mostly in the Welsh Marches. I have not read all of these but I have reason to believe they will be of high quality, if occasionally controversial. Basic details of guide books and other references to individual sites can be found on the individual site pages in this website.