Guildford Castle and Palace

In the civil parish of Guildford. In the historic county of Surrey (Modern Authority of Surrey, 1974 county of Surrey).

Probably early motte and bailey, motte given chalk wall shell keep in early C12 and then received square keep in mid C12. Gateway of 1256 is main remained of outer bailey works. It is evident from a description of the castle in 1332 that the royal residence at Guildford was in the castle outer bailey, being separated from the castle by a ditch and palisade. During C14 it was regarded as a palace. The palace largely went out of use after the reign of Richard II. In increasing want of repair from C14 on and finally abandoned as county jail in early C17. Keep converted back into residence from 1611 on but only used for a short period before being unroofed c1680. Keep survives to full height but with C17 alteration to details. The castle ditch was sectioned in 1972-3 and no pottery later than C13 was found.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 288877; 288878; 288879; 289059; 289057; 289058)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU99754926

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

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 544814; 250353
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 1664; 7905; 7958; 8878 '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.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/guildford/guildford.php
    http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/7340/gui-cas.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_south/186/guildfordcastle.htm
    http://www.guildford.gov.uk/GuildfordWeb/Leisure/Guildford+Museum/GuildfordSites/HistoryNotes/Guildford+Castle.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/guildford.html
    http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHHER_1664
    http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHHER_7905
    http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHHER_7958
    http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHHER_8878
• Books
  • Alexander, Mary, 2006, With Ramparts Crown'd - The Early History of Guildford Castle (Guildford Museum)
    Poulton, Rob, 2005, A Medieval Royal Complex at Guildford: Excavations at the Castle and Palace (Guildford: Surrey Archaeological Society) [digital supplement available at http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?guildford_sas_2005]
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of Surrey (Malvern) p16-19
    Poulton, Rob, 1998, The Royal Castle and Palace at Guildford (Guildford: Surrey Archaeological Society)
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p241-2
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p172
    James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p11, 78, 84, 109-10
    Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p54
    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) Vol2 p465
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p238
    Alexander, Matthew, 1978, Guildford as it was
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, N. and Nairn, Ian, 1971 (Revised Cherry, Bridget), The Buildings of England: Surrey (London, Penguin) p275
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p658-9, 950-5
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p88-9
    Malden, H.E. (ed), 1912, VCH Surrey Vol4 p396-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Malden, H.E. (ed), 1911, VCH Surrey Vol3 p554-60
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p94-8
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p53-71
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p266-8
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p310
    Walford, 1848 Brayley (ed), History of Surrey, (London) Vol1 p118-28
    Manning and Bray, 1804-14, The History and Antiquities of Surrey (London) Vol1 p13-15 [slight history]
    King, Edward, 1799-1805, Munimenta antiqua or Observations on antient castles (W.Bulmer and Co) Vol4 p229-45
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p280
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol5 p91-6
• Journal Articles
  • Poulton, Rob, 2006, 'Tracing the royals at home, in Guildford Castle and palace' The Archaeologist Vol60 p22-3
    Alexander, M., 2003, 'Conservation work at Guildford Castle Keep' Surrey Archaeological Society Bulletin Vol371 p3-4
    Holling, F., 1974, Surrey Archaeological Society Bulletin Vol106 p2
    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
    Renn, 1958, Surrey Archaeological Collections Vol40 p4-6
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    1908, Berks, Bucks and Oxon Archaeological Journal Vol14 p121-2
    Malden, H.E., 1901, Surrey Archaeological Collections Vol16 p28-34
    Clark, G.T., 1872, 'Some account of Guildford Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol29 p1-25 [reprinted in MMA]
    King, E., 1777, 'Observations on antient castles' Archaeologia Vol4 p409-11 [reprinted in Antient Castles]
• Guidebooks
  • Alexander, Mary, 1999, Guildford Castle Offical Guide (Guildford Borough Council)
    Alexander, Matthew, 1985, Guildford Castle Guide (Guildford Borough Council)
    Liggett, 1965, Guildford Castle (London)
• 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] p444
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/barkseng.html#surrey2]