Lincoln siege-works (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Lincoln.
In the historic county of Lincolnshire.
Modern Authority of Lincolnshire.
1974 county of Lincolnshire.
Medieval County of Lincolnshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SK97317198
Latitude 53.23582° Longitude -0.54352°

Lincoln siege-works has been described as a certain Siege Work.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Stephen turned St Mary's church into a siege castle in 1140-41 (William of Malmesbury, Historia Novella, p. 48); this may have been either the cathedral, St Mary Crackpole or St Mary le Wigford. The munitio of his siege of 1144 ( Henry of Huntingdon p. 277) is said to have been the square earthwork outside the westgate of the castle (J.W.F. Hill, Medieval Lincoln, pp. 177-80). (Renn)

In 1144, when Stephen made an attack on Lincoln Castle, he constructed a square earthwork, three sides of which are clearly marked on nineteenth century maps, within the ground of the Lawn Hospital (SK 9728 7191), opposite the western gateway of the castle. The earthwork is now difficult to discern (Hill).
All but a few fragments of slope have been obliterated by development (F1 FRH 22-APR-63). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 326634.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Books
- Osborne, Mike, 2010, Defending Lincolnshire: A Military History from Conquest to Cold War (The History Press) p. 32, 50
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 54 (mention)
  Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p. 133
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 227
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 265
  Hill, J.W.F., 1948, Mediaeval Lincoln (Cambridge) p. 177-80
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Potter, G.R. (ed), 1955, William of Malmesbury Historia Novella (London: Nelson and sons) p. 48 (An earlier edition is available online; Hardy, D.H., (ed), 1840, Willelmi Malmesbriensis monachi gestis regum Anglorum atque Historiae novella (London) p. 740 online copy both are superseded by King, Edmund (ed), 1998, William of Malmesbury Historia Novella The Contemporary History (Oxford University Press Oxford Medieval Texts) p. 82, 83)
  Arnold, Thomas (ed), 1879, Henrici Archidiaconi Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum (London: Rolls series 74) p. 277 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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