Gloucester Castle(s)

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

Castle documented in Domesday, where it is recorded that 16 houses were demolished to make room for it. The removal of a further 8 houses before 1100 probably marks the building of the castellum. It became a Royal Castle in 1155 and records of its maintenance occur regularly until the reign of Edward IV. Parts were used as a gaol until 1791 when it was demolished to make way for a new prison.
Gloucester is sometimes, with justification, considered as having two castles. The first, built soon after the Conquest was a timber and earthwork castle, built in the SW corner of the Roman walled town, using the surviving Roman wall, probably originally just as simple ditched enclosure but with a motte soon constructed over the Roman wall. The second, a stone castle, was built outside the Roman town wall, [This new castle is dated from early C12 by the VCH but otherwise dated from early C13], on an adjacent site west of the old castle. The old castle site was kept within the outer defences of the new castle but it seems most unlikely that any of the timber building remained in use.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO82751855

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 115492; 115496
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website, or elsewhere.

• Web site links
  • http://www.softdata.co.uk/gloucester/http://www.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/gloucester/norman.htm
• Books
  • Blanchard, Ian, 2007, Twelth Century: A neglected Epoch in British Economic and Social History (Newlees E-book) p185-7 [plan] http://www.ianblanchard.com/Folder/Chapter%208.pdf
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Gloucestershire and Bristol (Malvern) p20-21
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p79
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p45, 57, 172, 356
    Herbert, N.M., 1988, ‘Bridges, gates, and walls’, and ‘Gloucester Castle’, in Herbert, N.M. (ed), VCH Gloucestershire Vol4 (Oxford: OUP for the Institute of Historical Research) p242-7 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42304
    Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p117-32
    Carolyn Heighway, 1985, Gloucester: a history and guide p48-9
    Garrod, A.P. and Heighway, C.M., 1984, Garrod’s Gloucester: Archaeological observations 1974-81 (Bristol: Western Archaeological Trust)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p184
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p234
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p194
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p651-56
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol1: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p37
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p156-8
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p374-5
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p460-2
    Fosbroke, 1819, Original History of the City of Gloucester (London) p72-8 [not very important]
• Journal Articles
  • Parry, Charles and Reilly, Sarah, 1996, 'Proposed Magistrates' Court Site, Gloucester' Glevensis Vol29 p27-28
    Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106 p371-392 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28199104%29106%3A419%3C371%3AAHOCRI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q
    Walker, D., 1991, 'Gloucestershire Castles' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol109 p5-23 http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v109/bg109005.pdf
    Atkin, M., 1991 May, 'Gloucester's Norman castle rediscovered' Fortress Vol9 p20-3
    Atkin, M., 1991, Glevensis Vol25 p4-32
    Darvill, T., 1988, ‘Excavations on the site of the early Norman castle at Gloucester, 1983-84' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p1-49 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p313
    Garrod, P., 1986, ‘Gloucester Castle: salvage brief' Glevensis Vol20 p28-29
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1986, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1985' Medieval Archaeology Vol30 p135-6 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1985, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1984' Medieval Archaeology Vol29 p172 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Hurst, Henry, 1984, 'The Archaeology of Gloucester Castle: an Introduction' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol102 p73-128 http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v102/bg102073.pdf
    1983, Glevensis Vol17 p33
    Rawes, B., 1977, 'A Check List of Castles and other Fortified Sites of Medieval Date in Gloucestershire' Glevensis Vol11 p39-41
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Fullbrook-Leggatt, 1945, 'Medieval Gloucester: I' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol66 p6-9 http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v066/bg066001.pdf
    Armitage, E., 1904 April, 'The Early Norman Castles of England' The English Historical Review Vol19 p209-245, 417-455 http://www.archive.org/stream/englishhistorica19londuoft
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • The Anglo-saxon Chronicle; Laud Chronicle AD1124 http://omacl.org/Anglo/ [Text based on Everyman Press edn of 1912]
    Sewell, R.C. (ed), 1846, Gesta Stephani, Regis Anglorum et Ducis Normannorum p61 http://books.google.com/books?id=MK8KAAAAYAAJ
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p220-22
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities11.htm]
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/gloceng.html#gloc8]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p171, 188
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol3 p100 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl03lelauoft