Sleaford Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Lafford; Sleford

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

The quadrilateral castle, with its square towers and massive keep, was built between 1123-1139 by Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, and became one of the chief episcopal strongholds. King John rested here in 1216 after his disastrous passage of the Wash, and in 1430 Bishop Richard Fleming died here. The castle was in good repair on its surrender in 1546, but was dismantled before 1600. The visible remains are now a moat, a scrap of masonry and associated earthworks. Leland described it as well maintained with a gatehouse, which housed two portcullises, and a high central tower, 'but not sette upon a hille of raised yerth'

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 191762)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF06464555

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 348810
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 60742 '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.

• Web site links
  • http://www.ecastles.co.uk/sleaford.html
    http://www.roffe.co.uk/earthworks/castles/sleaford.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/sleaford.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p59
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p270-1
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p179
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p148 [slight]
    Roffe, David, 1993, 'Castles' in Bennett, S. and Bennett, N. (eds), An Historical Atlas of Lincolnshire (University of Hull Press) p40-1
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and John Harris; revised by Nicholas Antram, 1989, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Harmondsworth) p653
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p262
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p298
    Roffe, D.R.,1979, 'Origins', in Mahany, C.M., Roffe D.R. (eds) Sleaford (Stamford) p11-16
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Beresford, M., 1967, New Towns of the Middle Ages (London) p466
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p439-40 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/439/mode/1up
    Arnold, T. (ed), 1879, Henrici Archidiaconi Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum (London) p266
    Trollope, E., 1872, Sleaford and Wapentakes of Flaxwell and Aswardhurn in the County of Lincoln (London) p107-21
    White, W., 1856, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire p434
• Journal Articles
  • 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
• 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] p293
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/lincseng.html#lincs11]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p290, 302
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p26-7 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01 ;Vol5 p32 lelauoft http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]
    English Heritage, 1995, Revised Scheduling Document 22689. MPP 24