Cirencester Castle was an early Norman castle, built in the town of Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
There are only very limited records of the fortification, which was probably built at the start of the civil war known as the Anarchy, possibly in 1141, the Empress Matilda. The castle was attacked and burnt by her rival, King Stephen, in 1142, and does not seem to have been rebuilt.
Little is known about the style of the castle, although it was probably an earthwork and timber design, possible a motte and bailey castle. The site has since been developed, and now lies between the streets of Castle Street, Park Lane and Black Jack Street.
Bibliography
- Pounds, Norman John Greville. (1990) The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: A Social and Political History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45828-3.
- Walker, David. (1992) “Gloucestershire Castles”, in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Volume 109, pp.5-23/
Attribution
The text of this page is licensed under under CC BY-NC 2.0.
Images on this page are attributed and licensed as follows: “Map of Cirencester castle site”, derived from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, released under CC BY-SA.