Summary:-
Leicester Castle
Initially a Norman motte and bailey castle established c.1068 in the south western corner of the defences of the Roman Leicester. In the 12th century the timber keep, palisades and interior buildings were replaced with stone structures. Over succeeding centuries the castle became less of a stronghold and more of a residence (first for the Earls of Leicester, then for the Earls of Lancaster, and finally for the Dukes of Lancaster) an administrative centre and the place where the Assize Court were held. When the Dukes of Lancaster became Kings in the late 14th century the castle began to lose the first two of these roles, but the Assize (later County) Court was held there until the 1980s. The much altered 12th century court building survives, as does the greatly extended 12th century church, but the long abandoned motte (reduced in height in the early 19th century) is almost the only sign of the castle's original function. |
Description:-
The Castle
A castle was first established at Leicester, by Hugh de Grentmesnil, shortly after the Norman Conquest, possibly during one of William the Conqueror's northern campaigns in 1068. It was subsequently rebuilt by Robert de Beaumont, known as Le Bossu, second Earl of Leicester, in the early twelfth century. The rebuilding in stone of many of the timber elements of the original motte and bailey castle is attributed to Robert.
The first castle, of motte and bailey type, was constructed in a commanding position over the River Soar in the south-west angle of the Roman town walls. The motte is c.9m in height and c.30.5m across at the summit, having lost c.3.6m-4.5m in height in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century in order to accommodate a bowling green. The inner bailey (Castle Yard) was located between the motte and the town and by c.1150 contained a number of buildings including the Great Hall, attributed to Earl Robert le Bossu. An outer bailey to the north was added by the fourteenth century. To the south, the Newarke enclosure, a religious precinct, was added in the mid-fourteenth century. The castle passed to Simon de Montfort in the early thirteenth century and, on his death in 1265, to Edmund Crouchback. In 1399 the Dukes of Lancaster assumed the English throne, and the castle became the County Assize Court and the Duchy of Lancaster estate office. Parliament also met here on three occasions.
Richard III is known to have visited Leicester several times between August and October 1483 and November 1484, whilst king prior to his final visit before the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485.
There are few indications of other buildings within the castle bailey. A suite of rooms north of the hall accommodated the Earl and his family whilst in residence. Service rooms were located to the south between the hall and the castle mound, of which one, John of Gaunt’s Cellar, survives. A set of timber-framed buildings was erected after a fire of 1446-1447 at the northern gateway into the castle bailey. Other buildings were added to the west of it, including some of the few surviving fifteenth-sixteenth century domestic buildings in Leicester. The Turret Gateway was erected in 1442-1443 as the southern entrance to the castle bailey. Seriously damaged in election riot in 1832, it was never reconstructed.
The Bailey
The line of the bailey ditch has been revealed by a series of excavations and watching briefs, and was clearly a substantial defensive work, measuring c.10.66m wide and 5.03m deep, enclosing a substantial area including all the present castle buildings and St. Mary de Castro Church. Of the numerous (probably) timber buildings that must have existed in the bailey and the bailey rampart and gatehouse, there is as yet no information
Outer bailey.
The discovery of a stone wall running North-South in line with and c.30m North of the Great Hall has led to the suggestion that there may have been a later outer bailey to the north of the original bailey. This wall, however, is narrow for a defensive feature as it is <1m, so might perhaps have been part of a garden feature rather than an out.
The Keep
There is no extant documentary or archaeological evidence for the castle keep. There might have been a shell keep on top of the motte, or the original timber structure on top of the mot might not have been replaced.
The Motte
The motte constitutes the single visible element of the original castle. It stands c.9m high and c.30.5m wide at its summit, having been lowered by c.3.6m-4.5m in height during the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century in order to accommodate a bowling green. A number of burials were revealed as a result, possibly the bodies of executed criminals; the motte at Lincoln was used for this purpose in its later history. Thompson stated that this work was undertaken fifty years before, and also resulting in the removal of a possible Civil War gun platform.
The motte mound is likely to have been constructed from material thrown up by the cutting of its surrounding ditch. Excavation of test pits prior to the construction of the present staircase failed to reveal any structures.
A well is known to have been located on the motte, which survived into the late C18th-early C19th.
The well was observed in 1859 by James Thompson [3] and again in 1944 by Levi Fox .
The Motte Ditch
This and the bailey ditch probably employed parts of the Roman town defences. By the time of Levi Fox’s survey of the castle in 1942, there was virtually no visible trace of the motte ditch
The Rampart (presumed)
Although there is no supporting archaeological evidence, it is likely the timber palisades on the bailey rampart, as well as on top of the motte were replaced with stone walls. The 'shell keep' thus formed on the motte would probably have contained a number of timber buildings . These deposits produced twelfth-century pottery, and may represent the remains of the clay bank and stone wall surrounding the bailey, thrown down following the rebellion.
Castle Well
A well is known to have been located on the castle motte, which survived into the modern period.
The well was observed in 1859 by James Thompson and again in 1944 by Levi Fox .
Boundary (Curtain) Wall. A substantial stone wall was discovered during in 1925 is likely to have formed part of the boundary of an enclosure established south of the castle during the twelfth or thirteenth centuries .
The majority of the curtain wall defining the bailey was rebuilt in the early fifteenth century. Work by Thompson and Fox reconstructed the line of the walls as running parallel to the river on the western side north from the castle mill before turning east and then south to join the main gatehouse of the castle. The wall extended roughly south to the (later) Castle Gateway, at which point it westwards towards the river. The subsequent foundation of the Newarke hospital and church saw the establishment of an outer bailey to the south .
Castle Yard
The excavation of a service trench in the castle yard in 2016-17 revealed the presence of structural features, cobbled surfaces and layers, a stone and slate-built oven, evidence of the Great Hall's medieval porch, and three inhumations (see separate entry MLC3388).
A watching brief in December 2018 outside 5 Castle View during emergency foul drain repairs revealed no archaeological features, deposits or artefacts. |