Eccleshall Castle

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

Remains of a moated fortified manor house or castle built in C14 as an episcopal residence. During the Civil War the castle was besieged by Parliamentarians who demolished it before 1646. C14 remains include a nine-sided corner tower, the bridge over the moat and the stone retaining walls to the moat. A plan drawn up after the Civil War shows a second tower, joined to the first by a hall and chapel range. The present house was rebuilt circa 1695 incorporating some C14 fabric. It is L-shaped in plan, built of stone with tiled roofs. A licence was granted by King John circa 1200 for the former moated site to become a castle.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 272133)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ82782956

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 75490
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 00213 '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.

• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p409-11
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p165, 173
    Salter, Mike, 1997, Castles and Moated Mansions of Staffordshire (Malvern) p28
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p228
    Maddison, J., 1993, 'Buildings at Lichfield during the episcopate of Walter Langton (1296-1321)' in Maddison, J. (ed) Medieval Archaeology and Architecture in Lichfield p65-84
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p45
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p450
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p226
    Pevsner, N., 1974, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire (London, Penguin) p126
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p182
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Lynam, C., 1908, in Page, Wm. (ed), VCH Staffordshire Vol1 p370 [plan]
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p397-8
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p234
    Camden, 1588, Britannia Vol2 p388
• Journal Articles
  • 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
    Lynam, C.,1896-7, North Staffordshire Field Club transactions Vol31 p188
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rotuli Chartarum 1, 60b
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p432
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#staf7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p443
• 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 ]