Bolsover Castle

In the civil parish of Old Bolsover. In the historic county of Derbyshire (Modern Authority of Derbyshire, 1974 county of Derbyshire).

C11 motte and bailey castle, C12 tower keep castle and the standing remains of C17 country house that was built over it. Country house was built largely on the remains of C12 masonry. The open areas of the inner and outer baileys, therefore, have been left largely undisturbed since C11 and are believed to contain the buried remains of buildings and structures associated with the all periods of the medieval castle's history. Motte and bailey castle took the form of a large oval outer bailey, with a smaller inner bailey. Later medieval castle respected the layout of the earlier, and the square tower keep appears to have been built on the site of the original. The foundations of C12 keep survive below the present C17 'keep', known as the Little Castle.
My personal view is that the interior of the little keep gives a very good impression of the colour palette available to late medieval 'interior designers', although not, of course, the actual decorative motifs. Far better than the garish colours of Burgess seen at Castle Coch or Cardiff Castle.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 79228)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK47087067

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 316209
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.nottingham.ac.uk/tpau/projects/bcd/
    http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/bolsover%20castle.htm
    http://www.britcastles.com/bolsover.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/120/bolsovercastle.htm
    http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/housederby_bolsover.htm
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.55
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/bolsover.html
    http://www.englandspastforeveryone.org.uk/Counties/Derbyshire/Projects/Bolsover/Items/Bolsover_Castle?Session/@id=D_hoR4yxHiKosPkDymz0Cg
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p14-17
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p48-9
    Smith, Michael E., 1992, Castles and Manor Houses in and around Derbyshire (Derby)
    Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p132
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p108
    Mark Girouard, 1983, Robert Smythson and The Elizabethan Country House (Yale University Press)
    Hart, C.R.,1981, The North Derbyshire archaeological survey to AD 1500 p139, 145
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p192
    Pevsner, Nikolaus revised by Elizabeth Williamson, 1978, Buildings of England: Derbyshire (Harmondsworth) p62-65
    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) p572-3
    Tipping, H.A., 1922, English Homes, period 3 Vol1 (London) p348-70
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p461-4
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p110-12
    Lysons, D. and S., 1817, Magna Britannia Vol5 Derbyshire p. ccxxxvi [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=405]
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p53-4
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol8 p49-50
• Journal Articles
  • Sheppard R., 2003, 'Excavation of a Medieval Building and a Civil War Refortification at Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol123 p111-45
    Sheppard R., 2001, 'Bolsover Castle (SK 471707)' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol121 p205-9
    Sheppard R., 1999, 'Bolsover Castle (SK 471707)' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol119 p282-3
    Sheppard R. and Gilbert, D., 1997, 'Bolsover Castle (SK 471707)' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol119 p282
    [Pratt and Akister] in Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1978, ‘Medieval Britain in 1977' Medieval Archaeology Vol22 p168 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Faulkner, P.A., 1963, 'Haddon Hall and Bolsover' Archaeological Journal Vol118 p199-205
    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
    Gregory, F.W.C., 1947, 'Bolsover Castle: a review of the 17th century buildings' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol51 p4-49
    Knoop, D., and G.P. Jones, 1936, 'The Bolsover Castle building account, 1613' Ars Quatuor Coronatorum 9(1): 56pp reprint [Derbyshire]
    Goulding, 1917, Country Life Vol42 p132-9, 156-63
    Currey, P.H., 1916, 'Bolsover Castle. front.' Derbyshire Archaeological Journal Vol38
    Gotch, 1914, Archaeological Journal Vol71 p408-12
    1904, Country Life Vol 15 p198-207
    Gray, 1860, Assoc. Archit. Socies. Vol5 p228-46
• Guidebooks
  • Worsley, Lucy, 2000, Bolsover Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Faulkner, P.A., 1985, Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire (London: English Heritage) [the 1972 edn publish by English Heritage]
    Faulkner, P.A., 1972, Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire (HMSO)
    Goulding, R.W., 1936 (6edn), Bolsover Castle
• 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] p165
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/lincseng.html#derb7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p101