If you think this information is inaccurate please e-mail corrections to
Hertfordshire HER
.
| HHER Number: | 13250 |
|---|
| Type of record: | Monument |
|---|
| Name: | APPROXIMATE SITE OF PRISON, WAYTEMORE CASTLE, BISHOP'S STORTFORD |
|---|
Summary
Bishops of London's castle prison, used until the 1640s
| Grid Reference: | TL 489 213 |
|---|
| Map Sheet: | TL42SE |
|---|
| Parish: | Bishop's Stortford, East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire |
|---|
| Map: | Show location on Streetmap |
|---|
Monument Types
- PRISON (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status
- SHINE: Waytemore Castle, Bishop's Stortford
Full description
The castle [28] had a prison by the early 13th century. In 1344 it held 50 people, although numbers fluctuated and the death rate appears to have been high. The bishops of London used it for all felons within their liberty (which covered 13 parishes), but mostly for convicted clerks. Although the castle was in ruins by 1549, the prison continued to be used to hold religious dissenters and others until the Commonwealth, when it was closed and prisoners taken to the county gaol. In 1649 the prison was sold and demolished, along with a bridge leading to it (presumably from The Causeway across the ditch surrounding the bailey). The materials were used to build the Cherry Tree inn on the site, near the castle gatehouse. By 1850 the inn had become a house called Castle Cottage, used by the Taylor family who owned the castle. In 1850 the garden in front of the Cottage was dug up and the foundations of the prison (or one of the other castle buildings) were seen, extending under the house. The walls were from 3 to 5 feet thick; a skull and some bones were found <3, 4>. According to <3>, 'human remains have frequently been found very near to the surface, between the mound and the site of the prison', and it seems that the bailey of the ruined castle was used as the prison burying ground. For more recent similar finds, see [4227, 9812]. The present Castle Cottage is on a different site <2>.
<1> Page, W (ed.), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire vol.3, - p299 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2329.
<2> OS 25 inch map, 1st edition, 1879-91 (Cartographic material). SHT8116.
<3> Glasscock, J L, 1899, Stortford Castle; Trans East Herts Archaeol Soc 1/1, 45-55, - p54 (Article in serial). SHT16884.
<4> Cussans, John Edwin, 1870-73, History of Hertfordshire vol 1, - p110 (part 1, 1870) (Bibliographic reference). SHT2787.
Sources and further reading
| <1> | Bibliographic reference: Page, W (ed.). 1912. VCH Hertfordshire vol.3. - p299. |
| <2> | Cartographic material: OS 25 inch map, 1st edition. 1879-91. |
| <3> | Article in serial: Glasscock, J L. 1899. Stortford Castle; Trans East Herts Archaeol Soc 1/1, 45-55. - p54. |
| <4> | Bibliographic reference: Cussans, John Edwin. 1870-73. History of Hertfordshire vol 1. - p110 (part 1, 1870). |
Related records
| 9812 | Parent of: HUMAN REMAINS, WAYTEMORE CASTLE, BISHOP'S STORTFORD (Monument) |
| 4227 | Parent of: INHUMATIONS, CASTLE COTTAGE, WAYTEMORE CASTLE, BISHOP'S STORTFORD (Monument) |
| 28 | Part of: WAYTEMORE CASTLE, BISHOP'S STORTFORD (Building) |
Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.