Stamford Castle

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

Motte and bailey castle constructed about 1075 and allegedly demolished 1484. Excavations have identified a possible C9 enclosure and parts of the castle plan. Features identified include C12 hall solar and undercroft and C13-C14 features. Field investigations in 1988 found that most of the castle had been built over. The motte with fragment of shell keep was removed in 1935. A fragment of bailey wall and hall service room doorways in isolation survives.
Stamford was, in the C11, part of Rutland but was rapidly absorbed into Lincolnshire.
On a small hill overlooking the watermeadows separated from the main settlement (ie to west of it) by a small valley. Five houses were destroyed when the castle was built, prior to 1086. The castle was probably built in 1068 when William I took his first campaign to Lincolnshire. The castle's history is poorly illustrated in documentary sources. In 1340 the castle was in poor repair, occasional repairs having been carried out. The castle was finally destroyed during the reign of Richard III and the building material was used to re-build the White Friar’s site. The castle consisted of a motte with a bailey to its south. It is suggested that the motte was extended to take a circular keep. The keep was destroyed in 1933 with little record made. The motte ditch had been infilled by the late twelfth century and the bailey metalled up to its edge. (Lincolnshire HER ref Mahany 1978)
There is no surviving masonry on the motte, which is partly cut away, and what remains of the castle wall is thirteenth century in date. The castle, which was destroyed at the time of Richard III, appears to have been within the town walls, with a quadrangular bailey stretching down to the river. (Lincolnshire HER)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF028070

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 507716
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 30667; 30668 '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.roffe.co.uk/stamfordcastle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/stamford.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p62-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p145
    Roffe, David, 1993, 'Castles' in Bennett, S. and Bennett, N. (eds), An Historical Atlas of Lincolnshire (University of Hull Press) p40-1
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford)
    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 p263
    Mahany, C., Burchard, A. and Simpson, G., 1982, Excavation in Stamford, Lincolnshire 1963-1969 (London: Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph 9)
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p302
    RCHME, 1977, ‘Castle’ and ‘Town walls' in An Inventory of Historical Monuments: the Town of Stamford (HMSO) p3-5
    Mahany, C., 1977, ‘Stamford Castle' Archaeological Excavations 1976, (HMSO) p131
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1964, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Harmondsworth) p663
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p216-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p338-40
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p11-4
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 2000, 'The Medieval Castles of Rutland: Field Archaeology and Landscape History' Rutland Record Vol20 p415-24
    Creighton, O.H., 1999, 'Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Rutland' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol73 p20 http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/Creighton73600dpism.pdf
    Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106 p371-392 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28199104%29106%3A419%3C371%3AAHOCRI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Q
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p310
    Mahany, C. and Roffe, D., 1986, ‘Stamford and the Norman Conquest‘ Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol21 p5-9
    Mahany, C., 1985, ‘Stamford Castle' Archaeology in Lincolnshire 1984–1985 p27–9
    Mahany, C. and Roffe, D., 1982, 'Stamford: the Development of an Anglo-Scandinavian Borough' Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies Vol5 p197-219
    Mahany, C., 1978, 'Stamford Castle and Town' South Lincolnshire Archaeology Vol2 p1-32 whole issue
    Mahany, C., 1978, ‘Stamford Castle’ East Midlands Archaeological Bulletin Vol12 p35
    Mahany, C., 'Stamford - castle' Current Archaeology Vol49 p53-
    Mahany, C., 1977, ‘Excavations at Stamford Castle, 1971-6' Château Gaillard Vol8 p223-45
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, ‘Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol21 p235-7 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Mahany, C., 1975, ‘Excavations at Stamford Castle 1974' Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol10 p61
    Mahany, C., 1976, ‘Stamford (castle)‘, Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol11 p61
    (Mahany), 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p161-2 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    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
    1932-3, Report, Congress of Arch. Socies. p20 [note on ring-wall]
• 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] p295
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/lincseng.html#lincs8]