Berkhamsted Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Berkhampstead; Berkhamstead; Great Berkhamsted

In the civil parish of Berkhamsted. In the historic county of Hertfordshire (Modern Authority of Hertfordshire, 1974 county of Hertfordshire).

Earthwork remains of a Medieval motte and bailey castle, dating from the late C11 AD. The surviving masonry buildings and curtain walls probably date from the late C12, the circular keep may be dated to c.1254. The entire castle is surrounded by double moat.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP99520824

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 346252

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/berkhamsted/berkhamsted.php
    http://www.castles99.ukprint.com/Essays/berkhamsted.html
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.3
    http://www.hertsdirect.org/libsleisure/heritage1/archaeology/moreaboutarch/archsites/berkhamstedcastle/
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/berkhamsted.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p40-2
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p104-5
    Remfry, Paul, 1995, Berkhamsted Castle 1066 to 1495 (SCS Publications)
    Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p152
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p219
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p187-8
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p108-9
    Renn, D.F., 1971, Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire (Chichester; Phillimore) p14-16
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p561-563
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p53-4
    Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH Hertfordshire Vol4 p150
    Thompson, A. Hamilton, 1912, Military architecture in England during the Middle Ages (OUP) p42
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p105-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire p97-9
    Montgomerie, 1908, Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hertfordshire Vol2 p112-13, 168-70
    Walde, 1905, in Standing, Mem. Old Herts (London) p92-101
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p127-31
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol1 p223-8
    Cobb, 1883, Two Lectures on the History and Antiquities of Berkhamsted (London) p9-30 [history]
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p126-9
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol8 p92-6
• Journal Articles
  • Curnow, 1970, Hertfordshire Archaeology Vol2 p66-71 [excavation report]
    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
    Braun, Hugh, 1938, Proceedings of the St Albans and Hertfordshire Archaeological Society Vol5 p198-200
    Kendall, J.M., 1923, 'The Siege of Berkhampstead Castle in 1216' Antiquaries Journal Vol3 p37-48
    Montgomerie, 1905-7, Hertfordshire Natural History Society Vol13 p195-8
    Fowler, 1890, St Albans Architectural and Archaeological Society p18-28
    (Clark), 1874, Archaeological Journal Vol31 p407-11
    (Clark), 1868, The Builder Vol26 p529 [reprinted MMA]
• Guidebooks
  • Peers, 1936, (HMSO)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p253-4
    Roger of Wendover Vol2 p200
    Annales Monastici Vol3 p191
    Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum Vol1 p195
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/buckseng.html#herts15]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p233
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p104