Hertford Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Hartford

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

Motte and Bailey. Remnants of C12 Flint walls. C15 gatehouse survives much altered and converted into house. Besiged in 1216, surrended after 1 month. Important Royal castle. Hertford Castle reputedly originated as a Saxon fort built by order of King Alfred against the Danes encamped at Ware. The castle was built (or reconstructed) by William I shortly after 1066 as a motte and bailey - the motte mount, 22 ft high, remains in the north angle of the castle precinct overlooking the river. In 1171-4, at the behest of Henry II £171 was spent, probably on the replacement of the wooden palisade by the flint rubble curtain wall. The castle was periodically improved and had a double moat, the outer moat following the line of the north side of Castle Street, and the east side of Parliament Square and The Wash. An embankment separated the two moats, broadening into the Outer Ward to the west of the Gate House. The inner moat ran the perimeter of the curtain wall. Long since infilled, the vestiges of the moats can be seen in the undulating land forms of the approach to the south postern from Castle Street, and in the hollow behind the properties in Castle Street and Parliament Square. The Bailey occupies an area of 2.3 acres, and the castle precinct 7.75 acres.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 461231, 461232, 461233)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL325125

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; 367708

• Web site links
  • http://www.hertford.net/history/castle/index.asp
    http://www.hertsdirect.org/libsleisure/heritage1/archaeology/moreaboutarch/archsites/hertfordcastle/
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/hertford.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p44-5
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p256
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p105-6
    Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press) p18, 79
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p356
    Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p117-32
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p220
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p243-4
    Pevsner, Nikolas and Cherry, Bridget, 1977, The Buildings of England Hertfordshire (Harmondsworth) p187
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1975, The history of the King's Works Vol3: 1485-1660 (part 1) (London) p254-7
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Renn, D.F., 1971, Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire (Chichester; Phillimore) p15 [plan], 16-18
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p677-681
    Andrews, H.C., 1947, Chronicles of Hertford Castle (Hertford)
    Page, Wm (ed), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire Vol3 p503-6
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    RCHME, 1910, An inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire p113
    Montgomerie, 1908, Page, Wm (ed), VCH Hertfordshire Vol2 p116-17
    Benham, 1905, in Standing, Mem. Old Herts. (London) p12-18
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p131-3
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p119-23
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p125-6, 150
    Clapham and Godfrey, n.d., Some Famous Buildings and their Story (Westminster) p141-5 [mostly on domestic buildings]
• Journal Articles
  • Zeepvat, R.J. and Cooper-Reade, 1994-6, Hertfordshire Archaeology Vol12 p15-40
    Petchey, M.R., 1977, ‘Excavations in Hertford 1973-4' Hertfordshire Archaeology Vol5 p157-75
    1976, Medieval Archaeology Vol20 p162 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Webster, Leslie E and Cherry, J., 1975, 'Medieval Britain in 1974' Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p239 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    (Petchey), 1974, Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p178 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Moodey, G., 1973, Hertfordshire Archaeology Vol3 p100-9
    Webster, Leslie E and Cherry, J., 1972, 'Medieval Britain in 1971' Medieval Archaeology Vol16 p181 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    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 p194-8
    Clark, G.T., 1882 The Builder Vol43 p819-20 [reprinted in MMA]
    Newsletters of the East Herts. Archaeological Society No's 22, 24, 29, 30
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Giles, Rev. J.A. (ed), 1853, Matthew Paris's English History From the year 1235 to 1273 (London) Vol2 p247
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p255-6
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/buckseng.html#herts6]