Chichester Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

Very early motte castle, probably did not receive masonry defences. The Earl of Sussex built the castle shortly after the Conquest to overawe the township and Rape of Chichester in the North of the Roman military settlement. It then passed to the Earls of Arundel. In 1217 the King ordered its destruction. The site then came into possession of the Greyfriars for use as a friary. The much eroded motte remains in a corner of the town walls. (Derived from PastScape)

the site of the castle, of the mount and bailey type of the Norman period. It was probably commenced by Roger de Montgomery, and we may imagine he threw up the keep mount which still exists in a fragmentary form. We have no reference to a stone keep, which, in order to allow for the settlement of the earth, could not have been built for many years after his time. Perhaps nothing but the original timber keep was ever erected. There was a chapel in the castle as early as 1142. Apparently it was against John, who attempted to seize the Crown during the captivity of Richard I, that in 1193 the castle was victualled with barley, beans, bacon, etc., the usual stores for a siege, and in the following year payment was made to five knights who garrisoned the castle for 24 days. We do not know whether John's forces besieged the castle, but in 1194 and 1195 we have accounts for the works of the castle and the repairs of the houses and chapel. In 1198 a gaol was built there. The castle was put in charge of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and sheriff of Sussex in 1195, and he continued constable until 1208, when Richard de Mucegros succeeded him. The citizens were ordered in 1215 to carry out the instructions of Matthew Fitz Herbert, the sheriff, for fortifying their city. The castle was probably never of any great strength and John, fearing it might fall into Louis' hands, ordered its destruction in 1216. The order was not carried out before the death of John, and it surrendered to Louis. Early in 1217, however, the castle was retaken and Philip de Albini was commanded without delay to throw it down and destroy it to its foundations. There is nothing now left but the keep mount to mark the place where it stood. (VCH 1935)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1005864, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number ws103
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1386089.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MWS4319.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
  CastlesFortsBattle.co.uk
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Big Days Out
Books
- Jones, R., 2003, 'Hastings to Herstmonceux: the castles of Sussex' in Rudling, D. (ed) The archaeology of Sussex to AD2000 (Great Dunham: Heritage Marketing and Publications) p. 171-8
  Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Sussex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 34
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 248 (mention)
  Magilton, J., 1995, 'Chichester Castle Reappears' The Archaeology of Chichester and Distrcit 1995 (Chichester District Council) p. 23-6
  Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 117-32 online copy
  Guy, John, 1984, Castles in Sussex (Phillimore) p. 50-3
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 471
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 207
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker)
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 612-3
  Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1935, VCH Sussex Vol. 3 p. 79-80 online transcription
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Clinch, G., 1905, 'Ancient Earthworks' in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Sussex Vol. 1 p. 474 online copy
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 69 online copy
  Elwes, Dudley George Cary, 1876, A history of the Castles, Mansions, and Manors of Western Sussex (London: Longmans) p. 60n online copy
  Hay, A., 1804, The History of Chichester (Chichester) p. 210-13 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Richard Nevell, 2014-15, 'Castles as prisons' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 28 p. 203-224
  Magilton, John, 1995, 'Chichester Castle Reappears' The Archaeology of Chichester and District 1995 p. 20-2 Download copy
  Brown, R. Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' The English Historical Review Vol. 74 p. 249-280 (Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 90-121) view online copy (subscription required)
  Crake, W.V., 1908, 'The Chichester Grey Friars' Church, Now the Guildhall' Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol. 51 p. 14-16 online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 212 online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Stenton, D.M. (ed.), 1927, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the fifth year of the reign of King Richard the First, Michaelmas 1193 (Pipe Roll 39) (Pipe Roll Society Publications 41) p. 152
  Stenton, D.M. (ed.), 1928, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the sixth year of the reign of King Richard the First, Michaelmas 1194 (Pipe Roll 40) (Pipe Roll Society Publications 43) p. 226
  Stenton, D.M. (ed.), 1929, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the seventh year of the reign of King Richard the First, Michaelmas 1195 (Pipe Roll 41) (Pipe Roll Society Publications 44) p. 125
  Stenton, D.M. (ed.), 1932, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the tenth year of the reign of King Richard the First, Michaelmas 1198 (Pipe Roll 44) (Pipe Roll Society Publications 47) p. 125
  Hardy, T.D. (ed), 1835, Rotuli Litterarum Patentium in Turri Londinensi Asservati (1201-16) (Record Commission) p. 79, 137 online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1901, Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry III (1216-25) Vol. 1 p. 57 online copy
  Stubbs, W. (ed), 1880, The Minor Works comprising the Gesta regum with its continuation, the Actus pontificum, and the Mappa mundi, by Gervase, the Monk of Canterbury (London: Longman Rolls Series 73) Vol. 2 p. 419 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Fradley, Michael, 2011, The Old in the New: Urban Castle Imposition in Anglo-Norman England, AD1050-1150 (University of Exeter PhD Thesis) available via EThOS

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