Hanley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Henley

In the civil parish of Hanley Castle. In the historic county of Worcestershire (Modern Authority of Worcestershire, 1974 county of Hereford and Worcester).

The castle was built by King John between 1206 and 1212. In 1216 it was granted to Gilbert de Clare and remained in that family until 1314. Between 1322 and his death in 1327 Edward II carried out extensive work which included, in 1324, the digging of a great ditch round the castle, 60ft wide and 7ft deep. Three sides of a sub-rectangular dry moat mark the site of Hanley Castle. The fourth side, the northern sector in front of and to the east of, the now derelict Hanley Castle House, has been rendered indefinable by landscaping. The derelict house was built in C17. There may also be a fishpond on the site.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO83834138

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 116014
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular '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, or elsewhere.

• Web site links
  • http://www.ecastles.co.uk/hanley.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern) p79
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p280 [slight]
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p47-8
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p172
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p507
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p239
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p667-9
    Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), 1924, VCH Worcestershire Vol4 p93-96, 431, 433 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42863
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p384 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/384/mode/1up
• Journal Articles
  • Bond, C.J., 1974, ‘Hanley Castle' Worcestershire Archaeology and Local History Newsletter Vol14 p3-4
    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
    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
• 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] p473-4
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#worcs8]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p193, 516, 517
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol4 p135 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl04lelauoft ; Vol5 p9,154 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Toomey, James Patrick, 1997, A medieval woodland manor : Hanley Castle, Worcestershire. (PhD thesis University of Birmingham [Available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]