Appleby Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Appleby in Westmorland

In the civil parish of Appleby in Westmorland.
In the historic county of Westmorland (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Originally a motte and bailey castle, replaced by a stone keep built circa 1170 and at the time of three storeys. The addition of one very tall storey without windows seems to have followed before the end of the century. A house was built within the grounds of the bailey probably in C14 which incorporated a C13 round tower and other remains of an earlier building. House part rebuilt in 1454 by Thomas de Clifford. Restored in 1651-3 with additions of 1686-88, and 1695. A Roman well indicates the site of a possible settlement. The castle walls are mainly of sandstone rubble with some ashlar. The castle earthworks consist of a deep ditch enclosing both the keep platform and the bailey. The interior has been levelled and altered at various times though the possible layout of the motte and bailey can still be detected.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major 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 73608, 73609)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY68511993

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; 502430, 1339780

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 01709

• Web site links
  • http://www.visitcumbria.com/pen/appbcas.htm
    http://www.tower.org/library/towers/appleby_castle.html
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/91/applebycastle.htm
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/appleby/appleby.php#castle
• Books
  • Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS)
    Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p12-14
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p27-9 [plan]
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p264-5
    Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p70-2
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p489
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p178-9
    Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p29-31
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1967, Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth) p219
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p553
    RCHME, 1936, An inventory of the historical monuments in Westmorland (HMSO) p7-13
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p66-7, 75-80, 454
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p280-1
    Taylor, M.W., 1892, Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland and Cumberland (CWAAS extra series Vol8) p27-30 [slight]
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p208
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p307
• Journal Articles
  • King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
    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]
    Simpson, 1949, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol49 p118-33
    Oswald, 1940, Country Life Vol87 p382-6,408-12
    Ferguson, 1885, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol8 p382-95
    Simpson, 1866-73, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol1 p242-54 [history]
• Guidebooks
  • Holmes, 1974, Appleby Castle (Appleby)
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/durhameng.html#west5]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p483
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p47