Egremont Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Egermond

In the civil parish of Egremont.
In the historic county of Cumberland (Modern Authority of Cumbria, 1974 county of Cumbria).

Now ruinous, the castle was originally established in circa 1120 by Walter de Meshines as a motte and bailey, though the earliest surviving architectural work dates from the mid-C12 with later additions and alterations. The great square gatehouse is believed to be mid C12. Later there was built the keep in circular form on the motte, although this has all but vanished. Surviving curtain walls were badly damaged when Robert the Bruce raided the Castle on at least two occasions shortly after Bannockburn. The Castle finally met its end after the Rising of the North when it was slighted.

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 76123)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY00971046

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; 8824

County Sites and Monuments Record number; 3051

• Web site links
  • http://www.visitcumbria.com/wc/egcastle.htm
    http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/egremont.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p50-1
    Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p102-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p41
    Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p81-2
    Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p55-6
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p86
    Clare, T., 1981, Archaeological Sites of the Lake District p78-81
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p227
    Hudleston, C.Roy and Boumphrey, R.S., 1978, Cumberland Families and Heraldry p225,272,376-7
    Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p85-7
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p181,183
    Pevsner, N., 1967, The Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (Harmondsworth, Penguin) p124
    Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p115
    Parker, 1926, The Gosforth District (Kendal) p5-17
    Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p23,134-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Parker, C.A., 1904, The Gosforth District p4-20
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p312-4
    1847, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Cumberland (Mannix and Whellan)
    Lysons, D. and S., 1816, Magna Britannia Vol4 Cumberland p. cciii-ccvi [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=404]
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p40
• Journal Articles
  • Turnbull, P. and Walsh, D., 1994, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol94 p77-89
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p312
    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]
    1957, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol57 p191
    5-3-1932, Cumberland News
    Caine, 1923, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol23 p133-7
    Jackson and Knowles, 1881-2, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol6 p150D-162D
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cumbeng.html#cumb4]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p97