Gazetteers

This a bibliography of the texts used as sources of information for the database of medieval fortifications that is the bases for the bulk of this website.

Click on the highlighted title for a brief description of the book and it's publication details

• The Royal Commission Inventories are of varing quality, older surveys can be poor, but are often the best available resource, newer surveys are excellent and represent the gold standard for archaeological recording of castles.
• The Victoria County Histories gives full histories of the major sites and covers some of the minor sites but are, by no means, comprehensive. The 'earthworks' sections in the early volumes are useful but are dated and need to be read with much circumspection. Manor histories are very useful for establishing tenure and such like but coverage of these is patchy (Staffordshire, which has particularly good coverage and over 15 volumes published, still has only half the county covered.) A limited number of VCH editions are available online, along with other useful texts at, British History Online.
• Pevsner's Buildings of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales cover some of the greater masonry fortifications and very occasionally mentions some of the existing earthworks.
• Castellarium Anglicanum by D. J. Cathcart King is the the inspiration, prime authority and a major source for this project. I am merely extending and updating King's work although without his impressive and extensive field work.
• Norman Castles in Britain by D. F. Renn
• Castles of the British Isles by Plantagenet Somerset Fry
• Castles by Charles W. C. Omen
• Ringworks of England and Wales by D .J. Cathcart King and Leslie Alcock
• A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book by C. G. Harfield
• English Castles, a guide by counties by Adrian Pettifer
• Welsh Castles, a guide by counties by Adrian Pettifer
• Castles of Wales by Alan Reid
• Early Castles in Wales and The Marches by A. J. A. Hogg and D. J. C. King
• Masonry Castles in Wales and The Marches by A. J. A. Hogg and D. J. C. King
• The Castles of Great Britain by Sidney Toy
• The Castles and Walled Towns of England by Alfred Harvey
• The History of the King's Works by H. M. Colvin et al
• Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500 Volume I by Anthony Emery
• Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500 Volume II by Anthony Emery
• Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500 Volume III by Anthony Emery
• Shielings and Bastles by H. G. Ramm, R. W. McDowell, Eric Mercer
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences by C. J. Bond (Urban Defences)
• Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066 by M. W. Barley
• Medieval Town Walls by Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham
• Medieval Bishops Houses in England and Wales by M. W. Thompson
• Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales by John Kenyon
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• The Castles of North Wales by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Mid Wales by Mike Salter
• The Castles of South-West Wales by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan & Gower by Mike Salter
• Castles of Radnorshire by Paul Martin Remfry
• Castles of Breconshire by Paul Martin Remfry
• Ten Castles of Radnor Lordship 1066-1304 by Paul Martin Remfry
• A Company of Forts; A Guide to the Medieval Castles of West Wales by Paul Davis
• Castles of Glamorgan by Paul R. Davis
• The Castles of Breconshire by D. J. C. King
• The Castles of Montgomeryshire by C. J. Spurgeon
• Castles of Pembrokeshire by Dillwyn Miles
• The Castles of Gower by Bernard Morris and Harold Grenfell
• Castles of the Princes of Gwynedd by Richard Avent
• Castles of the Welsh Princes by Paul R. Davis
• The Vale of Glamorgan by Henry John Randall
• Supposed Castles in Glamorgan by Jack Spurgeon et al
• The Medieval Town Defences of Glamorgan by Jack Spurgeon
• The Castles and Strongholds of Pembrokeshire by Thomas G Stickings
• Castles and Bishops Palaces of Pembrokeshire by Lise Hull
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• The Castles and Tower Houses of Northumberland by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Tower Houses of County Durham by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Moated Mansion of Shropshire by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Moated Mansion of Staffordshire and The West Midlands County by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Moated Mansion of Staffordshire by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Moated Mansion of Warwickshire by Mike Salter
• The Castles of the East Midlands by Mike Salter
• The Castles of East Anglia by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Herefordshire and Worcestershire by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Gloucestershire and Bristol by Mike Salter
• The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Sussex by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Kent by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Surrey by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Wessex by Mike Salter
• The Castles of Devon and Cornwall by Mike Salter
• Index and Amendments to Mike Salter's English Castles Books by Mike Salter
• Midland Castles by Mike Salter
• Castles of Northumbria by M. J. Jackson
• Castles of Durham and Cleveland by M. J. Jackson
• Castles of Cumbria by M. J. Jackson
• Castles of North Yorkshire by M. J. Jackson
• Castles of Shropshire by M. J. Jackson
• Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland by Robert Hugill
• The Castles and Towers of the County of Durham by Robert Hugill
• Castles and Peles of the English Border by Robert Hugill
• The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria by Denis R Perriam & John Robinson
• Safe Sanctuaries by Christopher Brooke (Fortified Churches of Scottish March)
• The Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire North-of-the-Sands by John F Curwen
• Castles in Cumbria by Jean Cope
• The Border Holds of Northumberland by Cadwallader John Bates
• Bastions and Belligerents by John F. Dodds (covers Northumberland)
• Castles of Northumberland by Brian Long
• The Castles of Northumberland by Frank Graham
• Lancashire Castles and Towers by Leslie Irving Gibson
• Yorkshires Ruined Castles by J. L. Illingsworth
• Yorkshire Castles by Tom Garlick
• The Moated Sites of Yorkshire by H. E. Jean le Patourel
• Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles by Bernard Ingham
• The Mottes of North Lancashire, Lonsdale and South Cumbria by Mary Higham
• The Castles of Cheshire by P W Cullen and R Hordern
• Subsidiary Castle Sites West of Shrewsbury by Lily Chitty
• The Mottes in the Vale of Montgomery by David J C King and C J Spurgeon
• Vernacular Buildings of Shropshire by Madge Moran
• Castles and Moated Sites of Herefordshire by Ron Shoesmith
• A Check List of Castles and other Fortified Sites of Medieval Date in Gloucestershire by Barbara Rawes
• Staffordshire Castles A Provisional List by D M Palliser
• The Medieval Castles of Staffordshire by Leonard M Cantor
• The Mediaeval Earthworks of Rutland by Robert F Hartley
• The Mediaeval Earthworks of North West Leicestershire A Survey by Robert F Hartley
• The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire by Leonard M Cantor
  • Medieval Castles Additional Information by A D McWhirr and M J Winter
• The Scheduled Ancient Monuments of Leicestershire and Rutland by Leonard Cantor
• Early Leicestershire Castles: Archaeology and Landscape History by Oliver Creighton
• The Medieval Castles of Rutland by Oliver Creighton
• Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Rutland by Oliver Creighton
• Castles & Manor Houses in and around Derbyshire by Michael E. Smith
• Early Medieval Castle Sites in Nottinghamshire by Sarah Speight
• Four More Early Medieval 'Castle' Sites in Nottinghamshire by Sarah Speight
• Medieval Castles in Hertfordshire by Derek Renn
• Castles of Cambridgeshire by Alison Taylor
• Fortifications of East Anglia by Peter Kent
• Earthworks of Norfolk by Brian Cushion and Alan Davison
• An Historical Atlas of Norfolk editied by Peter Wade-Martins
• An Historical Atlas of Suffolk edited by David Dymond and Edward Wartin
• Lost Castles of Essex by David Neville
• Medieval London Houses by John Schofield
• Somerset Castles by Robert Dunning
• Discover Dorset Castles and Forts by Colin Pomeroy
• Castles of Dorset by Phil Wilton
• Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Wiltshire by Oliver H. Creighton
• An Introduction to Field Archaeology as Illustrated by Hampshire by J P Williams-Freeman
• The Castles of Hampshire and Isle of Wight by William George Barron
• Hampshire Castles and the Landscape 1066-1216 by Michael Hughes
• Castles in Sussex by John Guy
• Kent Castles by John Guy
• Castles in Kent by David Waldron Smithers
• Early Castles in Devon by Robert Higham
• Devon Castles: an annotated list by Robert Higham
• Castles of Devon by James Mildren
• Castles in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by I D Spreadbury
• Castles of Cornwall by Mary and Hal Price
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• The Castles and Old Churches of the Channel Islands by Mike Salter
• The Castles and Old Churches of the Isle of Man by Mike Salter