Chartley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Chartley Holme; Chartley by Stowe

In the civil parish of Stowe. In the historic county of Staffordshire (Modern Authority of Staffordshire, 1974 county of Staffordshire).

Primarily a motte and double bailey castle which was altered in the early C13 to form an enclosure castle. The motte is at the western end of the castle and although on a naturally high point it has been artificially raised. A stone keep and curtain walls with projecting towers were later added to the earthworks. The site was owned by the Earls of Chester from the end of C11 and the motte and baileys date from this time. Re-building in stone was underway in 1223 but the castle was abandoned by 1485, and was described by Leland as a ruin in 1545. The DMV of Chartley lies north of the castle

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 444419)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK01082850

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; 1088488

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/128/chartleycastle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/chartley.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 1997, Castles and Moated Mansions of Staffordshire (Malvern) p18-20
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p226-7
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p38-9 [plan]
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p196, 240
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p450
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p207
    Pevsner, N., 1974, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire (London, Penguin) p96
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Parker, F. (ed), 1909, Walter Chetwynd's 'History of Pireshill Hundred' Collections for a History of Staffordshire Vol12 [new ser] p176-83
    Lynam, C., 1908, in Page, Wm. (ed), VCH Staffordshire Vol1 p353, 361 [plan]
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p391-3
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p541-3
• Journal Articles
  • Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p317
    Palliser, D.M., 1972, 'Staffordshire Castles: A Provisional List' Staffordshire Archaeology Vol1 p5-8
    Cantor, Leonard, 1966, 'The Medieval Castles of Staffordshire' North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies Vol6 p38-46
    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
    1909, Staffordshire Historical Collections Vol12 p176-83 [weak]
    Scrivener, A., 1904-5, 'Chartley Earthworks and Castle' North Staffordshire Field Club transactions Vol39 p143-9 [plan]
    Scrivener, A., 1896, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol2 p53-9
• 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] p431
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#staf8]
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p24