Leicester Castle

In the civil parish of Leicester. In the historic county of Leicestershire (Modern Authority of Leicester; City of, 1974 county of Leicestershire).

Medieval motte and bailey, probably built by Robert de Beaumont, first Earl of Leicester circa 1068 and damaged in a rebellion of 1101, surviving as an earthwork. The castle was taken and dismantled in 1173. It was rebuilt in C12 and improved during C13 and C14, but declined in C15 and was ruinous by C17. The castle mound is about 30ft high, the steepest scars being 4ft on the south west and the diameter of the level summit 100ft. It was considerably higher, probably 12 to 15ft until reduced and levelled for a bowling green in C19. Excavations have located the castle wall. The Newarke, A stone-walled outer bailey added to Leicester Castle in circa 1330 and enlarged in 1354. A fragment of the wall survives and two gateways.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 188590; 188592; 188598; 188600; 188745)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK58260413

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 1048739; 316859; 1048833
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.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/140/leicestercastle.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/140/magazinegate.htm
    http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council--services/regeneration--culture/planningbuildingcontrolenvironment/urbandesign/ancient-monuments/ancient-monuments-list/leicester-castle
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/leicester.html
• Books
  • Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p35-6
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p40-1
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p139-40
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p60
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p178, 179, 192, 349
    McKinley, R.A., 1988, VCH Leicestershire Vol4 p344-47
    Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p117-32
    Pevsner, Nikolaus; revised by Elizabeth Williamson with Geoffrey K Brandwood, 1984, Buildings of England: Leicestershire and Rutland (Harmondsworth) p217-221
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p253
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Fox, L .,1972, ‘Leicester Castle' in Brown, A.E. (ed), The Growth of Leicester (Leicester University Press) p19-25
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p702-3
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p157-8
    Billson, 1920, Mediaeval Leicester (Leicester) p41, 200-1 [slight]
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Wall, 1907, in Page, Wm, (ed), VCH Leicestershire Vol1 p260-1
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p415-17
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p182-8
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p347-9
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p237
• Journal Articles
  • Alcock, N W and Buckley, J., 1987, 'Leicester Castle: the Great Hall' Medieval Archaeology Vol31 p73-9 [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 p314, 319
    Cantor, Leonard, 1977-8, 'The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol53 p36-7 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/CastlesPagesfromvolumeLIII-4.pdf
    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
    Radford, C.A.R., 1955, 'Leicester: Church of St Mary de Castro' Archaeological Journal Vol112 p156-8
    Clarke, 1952, Transactions of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society Vol28 p22-29 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/ALRPagesfromsmvolumeXXVIII-2.pdf
    Fox, Levi, 1944-5, 'Leicester Castle' Transactions of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society Vol22 p125-70 [reprinted as guide book] http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/LeicesterCastlefromsmvolumeXXII-2.pdf
    1933, Archaeological Journal Vol90 p368
    Chalkley Gould, 1900, The Antiquary Vol36 p372-4 [where as ascribed to the Danes]
    Bellairs, 1893, Transactions of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society Vol7 p150-2 and plates [on the late Newarke gateway]
    Clark, G.T., 1867, The Builder Vol25 p487-8 [reprinted in MMA]
    Thompson, J., 1866, Transactions of the Leicestershire Architectural and Archaeological Society Vol1 p84-6 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/LeCastlePagesfromvolumeIpart1-17.pdf
• Guidebooks
  • Chinnery, G.A., 1981, Leicester Castle and the Newarke (Leicester Museums)
    Thompson, J., 1977 [original edn 1859], An Account of Leicester Castle (Sycamore Press)
    Fox, Levi, 1944, Leicester Castle (Leicester) [see Journal article]
• 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] p286-9
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/huntseng.html#leics5]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p277
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p15 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Finn, N. (2004) 'An Archaeological Watching Brief on Castle Street, Leicester' ULAS http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/greylit/query.cfm