Lincoln Castle

In the civil parish of Lincoln.
In the historic county of Lincolnshire (Modern Authority of Lincolnshire, 1974 county of Lincolnshire).

Lincoln Castle was built by order of William I in the late C11. It consists of a double motte and bailey in an excellent state of preservation. The westernmost motte has a shell keep known as Lucy's Tower. Inside the Keep there is an old disused burial ground. The bailey is surrounded by a large curtain wall containing two gateways and an angle bastion on the north east known as Cobb Hall. A gateway on the east side is the principal entrance to the castle. An agreement was made, following the war of the Anarchy, for Earl Ranulf to hold a certain tower, previously fortified by the Countess Lucy. Not, in a meaningful sense, a licence to crenellate although has been called this by some.

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

A supposed Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1146.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK97477187

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; 326536

• Web site links
  • http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/lincoln/lincoln.php
    http://www.lincolnsurvey.uklinux.net/castle1.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/121/lincolncastle.htm
    http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_Lincoln.htm
    http://www.norman-world.com/angleterre/Patrimoine_architectural/Angleterre/Castles/lincoln/lincoln1.htm
• Books
  • Lindley, Philip (ed), 2004,The Early History of Lincoln Castle, Occasional Papers in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology 12 (Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology)
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p54-7
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p143-4
    Roffe, David, 1993, 'Castles' in Bennett, S. and Bennett, N. (eds), An Historical Atlas of Lincolnshire (University of Hull Press) p40-1
    Pevsner, N and Harris, J., 1989. The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (London, Penguin, revised ed. By N Antram)
    Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p117-32
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p261-2
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p254-6
    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) p704-5
    Hill, J.W.F., 1948, Mediaeval Lincoln (Cambridge) p82-106
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p166-8
    Hamilton Thompson, A., 1912, Military Architecture in England during the Middle Ages (London) p39-41, 114-15
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Sympson, E.Mansel, 1906, Lincoln, a historical and topographical account of the city (London)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p432-8
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p189-201
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p227-8
    King, Edward, 1782, Observations on Antient Castles (London) p85-90
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p170
• Journal Articles
  • Guy, Neil, 2005-6, 'Lincoln Castle' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol 19 p235-8
    Stocker, D. and Vince, A., 1997. 'The early Norman castle at Lincoln and a re-evaluation of the original west tower of Lincoln cathedral' Medieval Archaeology Vol41 p223-33
    Donel, L., 1992, 'Lincoln Castle' Current Archaeology Vol129 p380-1
    Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106
    Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p261
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1987, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1986' Medieval Archaeology Vol31 p150
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1985, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1984' Medieval Archaeology Vol29 p191
    Stocker, D., 1983, ‘Lincoln Castle' Archaeology in Lincoln 1982–1983: eleventh annual report of the Lincoln Archaeological Trust p18–27
    Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p95n2
    Jones, R.H., 1980, ‘Lincoln, castle' Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, 15 p73
    Reynolds, Nicholas, 1975, 'Investigations in the Observatory Tower, Lincoln Castle' Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p201-5
    Baker, 1974, Archaeological Journal Vol131 p378-80
    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]
    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
    Hill, J.W.F., 1946, 'Lincoln Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol103 p157-9
    Hill, J.W.F., 1930, Associated Architectural Societies' reports and papers [Lincoln, York, Northampton, Bedford, Worcester, Leicester and Sheffield] Vol40 p1-14
    Armitage, E., 1904 April, 'The Early Norman Castles of England' The English Historical Review Vol74 p236-8
    Patrick, 1890, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol46 p8-16
    Clark, G.T., 1876, Archaeological Journal Vol33 [reprinted in MMA]
    Hartshorne, 1848, Archaeological Institute p38-45
    Willson, 1848, Archaeological Institute p280-92
    Englefield, 1782, Archaeologia Vol6 p376-80
    King, E., 1782, Archaeologia Vol6 p261-6 [reprinted in Antient Castles]
• Guidebooks
  • Sancha, S., 1985. Lincoln Castle: the medieval story. (Lincoln: Lincolnshire County Council)
    Elliott, H. and Stocker, D., 1984. Lincoln Castle (Lincoln: Lincolnshire County Council)
    Anon, n.d. [after 1938], (Sleaford0
    Anon, 1938, (Lincoln)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum Vol3 p64-5
    The Anglo-saxon Chronicle; Worcester Chronicle AD1067; Laud AD1140
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Camden, Wm, (ed. Richard Gough), 1806 [2edn], Britannia Vol2 p365-6 and plate ix [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/lincseng.html#linc18]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p292