Cirencester Castle

In the civil parish of Cirencester. In the historic county of Gloucestershire (Modern Authority of Gloucestershire, 1974 county of Gloucestershire).

Cirencester Castle stood in the area bounded by Castle Street, Park Lane and Black Jack Street. A square keep was built in 1107, but was destroyed by Stephen in 1142. Park Lane, formerly known as Law-ditch, occupies the site of the castle moat.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.

Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP02130199

PastScape Defra ELS number; 327345

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Gloucestershire and Bristol (Malvern) p19
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p184
McWhirr, A. (ed), 1976, Archaeology and History of Cirencester p101
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p466-9

Journal Articles

Walker, D., 1991, 'Gloucestershire Castles' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol109 p15 http://www.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v109/bg109005.pdf
Rawes, B., 1977, 'A Check List of Castles and other Fortified Sites of Medieval Date in Gloucestershire' Glevensis Vol11 p39-41
Fuller, Rev. E. A., 1890-91, 'Cirencester Castle' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol15 p103-119 http://www.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v015/bg015103.pdf

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/gloceng.html#gloc15]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p188, 190

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commerical purposes. The owner of this site does not receive any income from this site and funds it himself.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

¤¤¤¤¤

Cirencester Castle

Cirencester Castle stood in the area bounded by Castle Street, Park Lane and Black Jack Street. A square keep was built in 1107, but was destroyed by Stephen in 1142. Park Lane, formerly known as Law-ditch, occupies the site of the castle moat.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP02130199

Sources of information, references and further reading