Lancaster Castle

In the civil parish of Lancaster. In the historic county of Lancashire (Modern Authority of Lancashire, 1974 county of Lancashire).

Medieval stone castle, replacing earlier motte and bailey, considerably altered in C20 by construction of the Shire Hall. Roger de Poitou is credited with the restoration or rebuilding of the castle with a keep prior to AD 1102. The castle was taken by Hubert de Burgh in 1199 and partly destroyed by the Scots in 1314. The castle was besieged by Royalists during the civil war and has been used as a prison since 1745. It is on the site of a Roman fort and Saxon fortification.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SD47346185

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; 41218 County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number; 448

• Web site links
  • http://www.lancastercastle.com/
    http://www.priory.lancs.ac.uk/castle.html
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/97/lancastercastle.htm
    http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/archaeologyandheritage/heritage/castle/lancaster.asp
    http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/easy_results.asp?index=1&main_query=lancaster%20castle
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/lancaster.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p28-33
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p135-6
    White, A J., 1993, A History of Lancaster 1193-1993 (Keele, Ryburn Publishing)
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p246
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p250-1
    Gibson, Leslie Irving, 1977, Lancashire Castles and Towers (Dalesman Books)
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1975, The history of the King's Works, vol3: 1485-1660 (part 1) (London) p178-181, 260-1
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1969, Lancashire, 2. The rural north (Harmondsworth) p156-7
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p692-3
    Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), 1914, VCH Lancaster Vol8 p5-11
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Gardner, 1908, in Farrer, William and Brownbill, J. (eds), VCH Lancaster Vol2 p528-9
    Fishwick, 1907, in Fishwick and Ditchfield (eds), Memorials of Old Lancashire Vol2 p3-7
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p194-6
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol1 p123, 138, 401
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p115-6
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p214
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p153
• Journal Articles
  • Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p309
    White, A.J,, 1975, 'Lancaster Castle' Contrebis Vol3 No.1
    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
    Roper, 1907, Chetham Society Vol62 p209-51
    Fishwick, H., 1901, 'The Old Castles of Lancashire.' Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol19 p53-9
    Cox, E.W., 1897, Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol12 p95-122 [Plan]
    Cox, E.W., 1896, 'Lancaster castle' Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire Vol48 p95-122 [plan]
    Higgin, 1849, Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire Vol1 95-102
    1829, Gentleman's Magazine pt1 p492
    1818, Gentleman's Magazine pt2 p176
• Guidebooks
  • Champness, John, 1993, Lancaster Castle, a brief history (Preston: Lancashire County Books)
    Meakin, J., 1988, Guide to Lancaster Castle (Westmoreland Gazette)
    Grant, A., 1985, Lancaster Castle in the Middle Ages (Lancaster, Lancaster University)
• 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] p282
• 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/Cities14.htm]
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/durhameng.html#lancs22]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p267
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol4 p11