Hartlebury Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Hertlebury

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

Castle or moated fortification constructed about 1255 and used as a Bishop's palace. Most of the present building is mainly C15 in date, with late C17 and mid to late C18 extensions and 1960s remodelling. Most of the castle's moat has been mutilated by landscaping, only the West arm survives intact. In 1268 Bishop Giffard, loyal to the Plantagenet dynasty, obtained a licence to crenellate [which is not entered in the rolls].

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO83607124

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 116489
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.worcestershire.gov.uk/home/cs-museum/cs-museum-hartlebury-castle-keydates.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/hartlebury.html
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p392, 463-6
    Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire (Malvern) p80-1
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p68, 187
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p279
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p48
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p507
    Dyer, C., 1980, Lords and Peasants in a Changing Society: The Estates of the Bishopric of Worcester, 680-1540 (Cambridge University Press)
    Pevsner, N., 1968, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire (London, Penguin) p190-1
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p71
    Montgomerie, 1924, in Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), VCH Worcestershire Vol4 p431-3
    Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), 1913, VCH Worcestershire Vol3 p381-4 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43140
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Morewood, Caroline C., 1910, 'Introductory Chapter' in Rait, R.S. (ed), English Episcopal Palaces (Province of Canterbury) (London; Constable & Co) p14-15 http://www.archive.org/details/engepiscopalaces00raituoft
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p383-4
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p318
• Journal Articles
  • 1995, Archaeological Journal Vol152 supp37-9
    1971 Sept 16 and 23, Country Life
    Hussey, 1931 Feb 7, Country Life Vol69 p156-62
    1926, Archaeological Journal Vol83 p297
    Bishop Yeatman-Biggs, 1907-10, Worcestershire Naturalists Club Vol4 p262-9
• Guidebooks
  • Anon, 1984, Hereford and Worcester County Museum, Hartlebury Castle (English Life Publications)
    Pearce, E.H., 1926, Hartlebury Castle, with some notes on Bishops who lived in it and on others who lived elsewhere, (London: SPCK)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Liber Albus of the Bishops of Worcester, f. 456
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#worcs4]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p511, 517, 518
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p89 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl02lelauoft
• 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 ]