GLOUCESTER CASTLE

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Castle documented in Domesday, where it is recorded that 16 houses were demolished to make room for it. The removal of a further 8 houses before 1100 probably marks the building of the castellum. It became a Royal Castle in 1155 and records of its maintenance occur regularly until the reign of Edward IV. Parts were used as a gaol until 1791 when it was demolished to make way for a new prison.

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(SO 82751855) The keep or great tower of Gloucester Castle must have been erected by Domesday, where it is recorded that 16 houses were demolished to make room for it. The removal of a further 8 houses before 1100 probably marks the building of the castellum. (1)

It became a Royal Castle in 1155 and records of its maintenance occur regularly until the reign of Edward IV. After that the castle appears to have been neglected and no vestige of it now remains. (2)

(SO 82791856) A square building shown on Hall and Pinnell's Map of 1780 (3) probably represents a surviving part of the castle, possibly the keep, which was used as a gaol until 1791 when it was demolished to make way for a new prison (4). (3,4)

The original timber and earthwork castle lay slightly to the east of the later castle, between modern Barbican Road and Ladybellegate Street. The later castle can be reconstructed from documentary evidence and consisted of a great keep, a stout polygonal curtain wall and entrance gateway on the East side. (5)

In 1990, three trenches were excavated on the site of the Magistrates Court, and locate the northern ditch of the Norman motte. A geophysical survey showed the motte ditch to be 50m in internal diameter. The bailey, to the east of the motte, was rctangular, being 111m x 90m, and closely followed the line of the Roman insulae. The ditches were about 6-8m wide. (6)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) General reference

Fullbrook Leggatt L E W O. 1952. Anglo Saxon and Medieval Gloucester

( 2) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

1963 Page(s)651-56

( 3) General reference

Hall and Pinnell's Map of Gloucester 1780

( 4) General reference

Lobel M. 1969. Historic Towns 1

(5) by Carolyn Heighway 1985 Gloucester : a history and guide

Reconstruction drawing of the castle circa 1140 on p49 Page(s)48

(6) Fortress : the castles and fortifications quarterly

9, MAY, 1991 Page(s)20-3

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Castle gate and draw-bridge to Gloucester Castle. These faced Castle Lane, now Upper Quay Street. The gate was fortified by a brattice in 1222.

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