Grantham Castle

In the civil parish of Grantham. In the historic county of Lincolnshire (Modern Authority of Lincolnshire, 1974 county of Lincolnshire).

Supposedly a Medieval castle at Grantham was granted to Edmund, Duke of York, in 1363 and stood north east of the church near the then confluence of the Wowbeck and Witham. There is now no trace of the castle. The lack of remains might imply this was a timber castle, although at this late date that seems unlikely. A possible scenario is that the original bailey hall was replaced by Grantham House, which has some parts dating back to 1380. David Roffe informs me "Grantham Castle and defences are entirely a mis-reading of various C14 Patent Roll entries referring to the 'castle (castra) and towns of Stamford and Grantham'. There is a Castlegate in Grantham, but it is late and, I suspect, a function of conscious antiquianizing. There may have been humps and bumps in the open space to the east of the church, but these would have related to the manor house." He is of the opinion that the tenurial profile of Grantham would not favour a castle here. I still feel an early short-lived castle must be a possibility, particularly at the period when the manorial tenure was still being established, and the manor granted to Edmund may have still held a memory of being established as a castle.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK915361

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; 325641

• Web site links
  • http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/houselincs_granth.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p69 [slight]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p265
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p227
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • David Roffe, 28-2-2006, pers corr