Halton Castle, Runcorn

In the civil parish of Runcorn.
In the historic county of Cheshire (Modern Authority of Halton, 1974 county of Cheshire).

Ruined remains stand on prominent hill and overlooks estuary of the River Mersey to the north and east. The first castle on the site was a motte and bailey timber castle built by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, in circa 1070. This was formed by cutting off the highest part of the promontory on the north western side by a ditch 8m wide and utilising the natural platform on the rest of the hilltop as a bailey. Rebuilt in stone by 1250. Nothing remains of the early timber castle phase of the buildings and the ditch of the early motte site was filled in in C13 The curtain wall only survives as foundations. The stone tower dates from C13 and measures 12m square at the base. Continued in use, mainly as a prison, into C18.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 55981)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SJ53768202

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 71756

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 104/1

• Web site links
  • http://www.haltoncastle.org/
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern) p18-19
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p16-17
    McNeil, Robina and Jamieson, A.J. (eds), 1987, Halton Castle: a visual treasure (North West Archaeological Trust Report 1)
    Whimperley, A., 1986, The Barons of Halton
    Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p11-12
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p67
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p238
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1975, The history of the King's Works Vol3: 1485-1660 (part 1) p252
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus and Hubbard, Edward, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (Harmondsworth) p232
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p667
    Ridgway, Maurice Hill, 1958, 'Medieval Castles' in Sylvester, D. and Nulty, G. (eds), The Historical Atlas of Cheshire (Cheshire Community Council) p24-5
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Walker, 1910, History of Halton Castle and its Court Leet (Runcorn)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p173-5
    Beaumont, W., 1886, The History of the Castle of Halton
    Ormerod, G., 1882 [2edn], History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol1 p710
    Beamont, 1873, History of the Castle of Halton (Warrington) p6-142
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p20
• Journal Articles
  • Anon, 2005, 'Halton Castle, near Runcorn' CSG Newsletter Vol7 Issue1 p2
    Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p234-235
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1963, 'Early castles in Wales and the Marches: a preliminary list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol112 p77-124
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
    1890, Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol8 p168-169
    1888, Journal of the British Archaeological Association pp199-20
    1885, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society p296-297
    Beamont, 1855-64, Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society Vol2 p1-20
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/shropseng.html#ches15]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p55-6