Baynards Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Bainard

In the civil parish of City Of London.
In the historic county of London, City of (Modern Authority of London, City of, 1974 county of Greater London).

Norman castle at west end of London's Walls, replaced by medieval palace, which was destroyed by Great Fire of 1666. It was first built, as a castle, by one Baynard, a follower of William the Conqueror. It was forfeited in A.D. 1111, and given to Robert FitzWalter, son of Richard, Earl of Clare, in whose family the office of Castellan and Standard-Bearer to the City of London became hereditary. His descendant, Robert, in revenge for private injuries, took part with the Barons against King John, for which the King ordered Baynard's Castle to be destroyed. FitzWalter, however, becoming reconciled to the King, was permitted to rebuild his house. In 1275, another Robert FitzWalter gave the site to the Archbishop of Canterbury for the foundation of the London House of Dominican or Black Friars. At the rebuilding of FitzWalter's 'castle' it was somewhat shifted in position and it was probably at this time that it lost its fortified appearance. It was again destroyed, this time by fire, in 1428. It was rebuilt by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, on whose attainder it reverted to the crown. Richard, Duke of York, had it next and lived here with his following of four hundred gentlemen and men-at-arms. It was in the hall of Baynard's Castle that Edward IV assumed the title of King, and summoned the bishops, peers and judges to meet him in council. The mansion known as Baynards Castle was built circa 1276 to the east of the castle by the same name. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1428. It was the main London residence of the House of York, and it was here that the Crown was offered to Edward IV, and later, to Richard III. In 1500, Henry VII ordered it to be rebuilt as a great house rather than a palace. The house was bestowed on his consorts by Henry VIII, and Catherine Parr granted it to the Earl of Pembroke. The greater part of the house was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Excavations since 1973 have recovered much of the plan and showed it to have been broadly quadangular, the river front being flanked by two machicolated towers with 5 projecting bays. There was a westward extension, apparently built in 1551.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Palace
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ31978082

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; 405021, 1393902

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 041200

• Web site links
  • http://www.britannia.com/history/londonhistory/lon-pal2.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern) p50
    Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p14
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p149 [mention]
    Schofield, J., 1994, Medieval London House (Yale University Press) p1, 6, 9, 37, 41, 106
    Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press) p10, 27, 36, 40, 78
    James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p140-1, 152, 164
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p271
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London)
    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) p980-1
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p102-4
    Besant, Walter, 1892, London
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p52-6
• Journal Articles
  • Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1985, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1984' Medieval Archaeology Vol29 p176
    Wilmott, T., 1982, ‘A medieval armorial brooch or pendant from Baynards Castle' Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Vol33 p299–30
    Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1982, ‘Medieval Britain in 1981' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p192
    (Marsden), 1974, Medieval Archaeology Vol18 p196
    (Marsden), 1973, Medieval Archaeology Vol17 p162-4
    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]
    Macmichael, 1890, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol46 p173-85
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • William FitzStephen, c. 1180, 'A description of London' Translated in Henry Thomas Riley (ed), 1860, Liber Custumarum. Rolls Series,no12, vol2 p2-15 [http://www.trytel.com/%7Etristan/towns/florilegium/introduction/intro01.html#p04]
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/midlesexeng.html#mids7]