Sherborne Old Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Shireburn; Chirburne

In the civil parish of Castleton. In the historic county of Dorset (Modern Authority of Dorset, 1974 county of Dorset).

Sherborne Old Castle was built as a fortified bishop's palace and castle during the early C12 on top of a natural knoll in the Yeo Valley. Its centre block of buildings were constructed of local stone, using a rubble core with Ham Hill ashlar facing. This was surrounded by a curtain wall and outer ditch. The central building survives as a partly upstanding ruin within the centre of the bailey. It dates from around 1130 AD, although the surviving remains also include at least three additional phases of construction. To the north of the great tower are the ruined remains of a C12 range of two storeys, which formed the northern side of a small courtyard. This range contained chapels on each floor. Part excavation between 1932 and 1954 and between 1968 and 1978 have identified structural foundations and buried deposits. The area south east of the central building contains the foundations of the kitchen block whilst the foundations of a garderobe tower have been identified within the north west corner of the central building. The remains of a tiled floor were identified within the north eastern area of the Great Hall in the south range. The curtain walls have been largely reduced to ground level along the northern and western flanks, although the eastern end of the northern flank and part of the north eastern flank stand to a height of 8.4 metres. To the west of the site is a semi-hexagonal earthwork which is 25 metres in diameter and circa 1.5 metres in height. This represents the remains of a Civil War siegework. Sherborne Old Castle was constructed by Roger de Caen, Bishop of Sarum 1107-1139 and was altered and refurbished between 1185-87 and in 1592. The castle became a powerful Royalist base during the Civil War and in 1645 fell after a fierce 11 day siege. Much of the castle was subsequently demolished and left in ruin. (PastScape)
The Saxon bishop's palace is traditionally thought to have been sited to the west of the abbey church, to the rear oft he existing vicarage at ST63701648. (Payne–ref. PDANHS 1956 p144) Payne suggest the castle was built because Bishop Roger's status as chancellor to Henry I meant 'it was important that he was able to defend himself and his household should there be a rebellion'. Certainly the position would have given him an income to build a new spacious palace with better access to his deer park although admittedly one surrounded with ditches and walls.
The castle was taken into royal hands in 1139 and not returned to the bishop of Salisbury until 1354. However the deer park remained in episcopal hands (Cantor and Wilson). A hunting lodge just south of the castle was to become the site of New Sherborne castle in the Tudor periods but dates from earlier than this. This 'lodge' is close to the castle. I wonder if it was a modest bishops palace during the period the bishops were excluded from the castle and retained as ancillary accommodation when the castle was regained.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 105566)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST64821677

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 199485
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 1 023 004 '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/sherborne/sherborne.php
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.309
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/sherbourne.html
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p627-9
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p28-9
    Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p23, 27, 71, 86-9, 120, 126, 140, 153, 162
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p23, 65, 88-90, 123, 132, 157, 159, 167, 184
    Pomeroy, Colin, 1998, Discover Dorset Castles and Forts (Dovecote Press) p38-42
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p67-8
    Wilton, Phil,1995, Castles of Dorset (Wimborne)
    Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p82
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p128
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p297
    White, P.R., 1975, ‘Sherbome old castle, Castleton' Archaeological Excavations 1976 (HMSO) p26
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, N. and Newman J., 1972, Buildings of England: Dorset (London) p385-8
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p832-3
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p79-81
    RCHME, 1952, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset. Vol1: west (HMSO) p64-6 plates 90-1, 104 [plan]
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p249-52 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/249/mode/1up
    Wildman, 1896, Short History of Sherborne (Sherborne) p90-105
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p449-52
    Hutchins, J., 1861-73 (3edn), History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset (Blandford) Vol4 p265-73
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p411
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p77
• Journal Articles
  • White, P.R., 1983, ‘Sherborne Old Castle' The Archaeological Journal Vol140 p67-70
    White, P.R., 1980, ‘Palatial but vulnerable in Dorset' Country Life Vol167 p218
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1979, ‘Medieval Britain in 1978’ Medieval Archaeology Vol23 p260 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1974, ‘Medieval Britain in 1973’ Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p195 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Cantor, L.M. and Wilson, J.D., 1966, 'The Medieval Deer Parks of Dorset, V.' Proceedings of the Dorset Archaeological and Natural History Society Vol87 p227-9
    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
    Farrar, R.A.N., 1955, 'Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol77 p141-142
    Farrar, R.A.N., 1952, 'Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol74 p107-8
    Farrar, R.A.N., 1951, 'Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol73 p106-109
    Farrar, R.A.N., 1950, 'Archaeological Fieldwork in Dorset' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol72 p93-94
    1947, The Archaeological Journal Vol104 p139-40
    1935, The Archaeological Journal Vol92 p78
    Brakspear, 1930, The Archaeological Journal Vol87 p422-7
• Guidebooks
  • Davison, Brian, 2001, Sherborne Old Castle (London: English Heritage)
    White, P.R., 1986, Sherborne Old Castle (London: English Heritage)
    White, P.R., 1971, Sherborne Old Castle (HMSO)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1334-38) p498
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1377-81) p9, 10
    Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p183-5
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/dorseteng.html#dorset8]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p131
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p154-5 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01lelauoft
• 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) p187-192 [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]