It was a motte and bailey castle. According to some sources it was built in the year 924 by Edward the Elder, who also established the main burh. The purpose of its erection appears to have been as a measure against the Mercian invasion. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Edward marched into peakland after he had fortified Nottinghamshire, and from there onward he arrived at Bakewell, and commanded that a town with a garrison be established at this location.[1][2] According to other sources the castle was built in the 12th century, most probably by Ralf Gernon. According to these sources, the building that existed before the 12th century at this location was not a fortification, but a simple manor, which was awarded to Gernon by Richard I during the 12th century, and Gernon fortified the manor. This hypothesis is based on the views of M.J. Swanton, formed after their 1969 and 1971 excavations of the location which showed that the remains of pottery found in the south-eastern side of the bailey were most probably from the 12th or 13th century.[3][4] Some recent sources have suggested that both theories could be correct: that the castle is a 12th-century motte built upon a Saxon burh.[5][6]
The castle was razed to the ground during the English Civil War. Today the only ruins that remain are certain earthworks, atop a mound that has been named as Castle Hill. The motte, which at one time may have been further fortified with a timber palisade, and its two baileys are visible, but none of the buildings remain except some foundation walls, which are now covered with vegetation;[7][8] otherwise, only the earthworks remain.[6] It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[3]
Conisbrough Castle is a medieval fortification in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, England. The castle was initially built in the 11th century by William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Hamelin Plantagenet, the illegitimate, parvenu brother of Henry II, acquired the property by marriage in the late 12th century. Hamelin and his son William rebuilt the castle in stone, including its prominent 28-metre (92 ft)-high keep. The castle remained in the family line into the 14th century, despite being seized several times by the Crown. The fortification was then given to Edmund of Langley, passing back into royal ownership in 1461.
Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known for Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, 15 miles (23 km) south-west of Sheffield. It is the largest settlement and only town within the boundaries of the Peak District National Park. At the 2011 census, the population of the civil parish was 3,949. It was estimated at 3,695 in 2019. The town is close to the tourist attractions of Chatsworth House and Haddon Hall.
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire, as well as the Low Countries it controlled, in the 11th century, when these castles were popularized in the area that became the Netherlands. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries.
Wallingford Castle is a medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire, adjacent to the River Thames. Established in the 11th century as a motte-and-bailey design within an Anglo-Saxon burgh, it grew to become what historian Nicholas Brooks has described as "one of the most powerful royal castles of the 12th and 13th centuries". Held for the Empress Matilda during the civil war years of the Anarchy, it survived multiple sieges and was never taken. Over the next two centuries it became a luxurious castle, used by royalty and their immediate family. After being abandoned as a royal residence by Henry VIII, the castle fell into decline. Refortified during the English Civil War, it was eventually slighted, i.e. deliberately destroyed, after being captured by Parliamentary forces after a long siege. The site was subsequently left relatively undeveloped, and the limited remains of the castle walls and the considerable earthworks are now open to the public.
Lydford Castle is a medieval castle in the town of Lydford, Devon, England. The first castle in Lydford, sometimes termed the Norman fort, was a small ringwork built in a corner of the Anglo-Saxon fortified burh in the years after the Norman conquest of England. It was intended to help control Devon following the widespread revolt against Norman rule in 1068. The Norman fort had been abandoned by the middle of the 12th century.
Bury Mount Motte is the remains of an earthwork motte and bailey fortification or ancient castle in Towcester in Northamptonshire, and has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The Motte probably dates back to the 11th century when it was a Norman fortification, but over time it has been subject to neglect.
Aslockton Castle is a ruined fortification, a motte-and-bailey castle, in the village of Aslockton, Nottinghamshire. The original name of the settlement was Aslachetone, which suggests a possible Norse origin; it was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was described as a large settlement.
Barwick-in-Elmet Castle was a fortification in the village of Barwick-in-Elmet, West Yorkshire, England to the east of Leeds.
Castlethorpe Castle stood in the village of Castlethorpe, to the north of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
Deddington Castle is an extensive earthwork in the village of Deddington, Oxfordshire, all that remains of an 11th-century motte-and-bailey castle, with only the earth ramparts and mound now visible.
Haughley Castle was a medieval castle situated in the village of Haughley, some 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north-west of the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. Prominent historians such as J. Wall consider it "the most perfect earthwork of this type in the county," whilst R. Allen Brown has described it as "one of the most important" castle sites in East Anglia.
Castle Camps was a Norman Castle located in what is now the civil parish of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire.
Ardley Castle was a castle to the southwest of the village of Ardley, Oxfordshire, England. At present only some of its ruins, most notably an oval enclosure one hundred yards (91 m) in diameter, with a shallow ditch with an average depth of three feet (0.91 m), a derelict moat and the earthworks remain.
Pilsbury Castle was a Norman castle in Derbyshire near the present-day village of Pilsbury, overlooking the River Dove.
While there are many castles in South Yorkshire, the majority are manor houses and motte-and-bailey which were commonly found in England after the Norman Conquest.
Tickhill Castle was a castle in Tickhill, in South Yorkshire, England and a prominent stronghold during the reign of King John.
Waytemore Castle is a ruined castle in the town of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire, England. The remains are a Grade I listed structure.
Wareham Castle and the town defences, known locally as the Walls, were fortifications in the town of Wareham in Dorset, England.
Pinxton Castle, Derbyshire, is a scheduled monument in Castle Wood that straddles Pinxton and South Normanton. In its designation as a scheduled monument, Historic England describes it as having been a motte and fortified manor, with a moated site and five fishponds. Unlike most of the approximately 6000 moated sites in England, a large, fortified enclosure surrounded the moat.
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