Stamford Castle

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

Motte and bailey castle constructed about 1075 and allegedly demolished 1484. Excavations have identified a possible C9 enclosure and parts of the castle plan. Features identified include C12 hall solar and undercroft and C13-C14 features. Field investigations in 1988 found that most of the castle had been built over. The motte with fragment of shell keep was removed in 1935. A fragment of bailey wall and hall service room doorways in isolation survives. Stamford was, in the C11, part of Rutland but was rapidly absorbed into Lincolnshire

This site has been described as a;
Masonry 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.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TF028070

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; 507716

• Web site links
  • http://www.roffe.freeserve.co.uk/stamfordcastle.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p62-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p145
    Roffe, David, 1993, 'Castles' in Bennett, S. and Bennett, N. (eds), An Historical Atlas of Lincolnshire (University of Hull Press) p40-1
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford)
    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 p263
    Mahany, C., Burchard, A. and Simpson, G., 1982, Excavation in Stamford, Lincolnshire 1963-1969 (London: Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph 9)
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p302
    RCHME, 1977, ‘Castle’ and ‘Town walls' in An Inventory of Historical Monuments: the Town of Stamford (HMSO) p3-5
    Mahany, C., 1977, ‘Stamford Castle' Archaeological Excavations 1976, (HMSO) p131
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1964, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Harmondsworth) p663
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p216-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p338-40
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p11-4
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 2000, 'The Medieval Castles of Rutland: Field Archaeology and Landscape History' Rutland Record Vol20 p415-24
    Creighton, O.H., 1999, 'Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Rutland' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol73 p20
    Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p310
    Mahany, C. and Roffe, D., 1986, ‘Stamford and the Norman Conquest‘ Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol21 p5-9
    Mahany, C., 1985, ‘Stamford Castle' Archaeology in Lincolnshire 1984–1985 p27–9
    Mahany, C. and Roffe, D., 1982, 'Stamford: the Development of an Anglo-Scandinavian Borough' Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies Vol5 p197-219
    Mahany, C., 1978, 'Stamford Castle and Town' South Lincolnshire Archaeology Vol2 p1-32 whole issue
    Mahany, C., 1978, ‘Stamford Castle’ East Midlands Archaeological Bulletin Vol12 p35
    Mahany, C., 'Stamford - castle' Current Archaeology Vol49 p53-
    Mahany, C., 1977, ‘Excavations at Stamford Castle, 1971-6' Château Gaillard Vol8 p223-45
    Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1977, ‘Medieval Britain in 1976' Medieval Archaeology Vol21 p235-7
    Mahany, C., 1975, ‘Excavations at Stamford Castle 1974' Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol10 p61
    Mahany, C., 1976, ‘Stamford (castle)‘, Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Vol11 p61
    (Mahany), 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p161-2
    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]
    1932-3, Report, Congress of Arch. Socies. p20 [note on ring-wall]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/lincseng.html#lincs8]