Runcorn Castle Rock

In the civil parish of Runcorn. In the historic county of Cheshire (Modern Authority of Halton, 1974 county of Cheshire).

Runcorn Burh was founded by Aethelfleda, lady of the Mercians in around 912 in response to presence of a Norse fleet in Irish Sea. A burh is the Saxon name for a fortified settlement. The exact site is not known but is was probably the Castle Rock. This was a promontory jutting out into the River Mersey, which was removed to improve naviagation and construct the railway viaduct. There are plans showing the area before the railway but the area has now been destroyed by bridge building and other industrial workings. Placename evidence suggests there may also have been a Norman castle here for a short period. (Cheshire HER)
A Castle is said to have stood on ground in Runcorn at a position where an earlier Anglo-Saxon Burgh (see SJ 58 SW 8), and fort are also recorded. The castle is mentioned in medieval documents, and there was a ferry on the site in C12. (PastScape)
Destroyed 1862, by the construction of a railway bridge across the Mersey and by the Manchester Ship Canal.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ50828333

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 923224
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 109 '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.

• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p21
    Harris, B.E. and Thacker, A.T. (eds), 1987, VCH Cheshire Vol1 p252-3
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p69
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p38-9
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Ormerod, G., 1882 [2edn], History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol1 p675
    Beamont, 1873, History of the Castle of Halton (Warrington) p3-5 [crude plan] http://www.archive.org/details/historyofcastleo00beamuoft