Coventry siege castle (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Coventry.
In the historic county of Warwickshire.
Modern Authority of Coventry.
1974 county of West Midlands.
Medieval County of Warwickshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP336791
Latitude 52.40889° Longitude -1.50692°

Coventry siege castle has been described as a certain Siege Work.

There are no visible remains.

Description

In 1143 the priory was turned into a fortress by Robert Marmion, and the monks were temporarily dispossessed. (VCH, 1969)

In 1143 the monks of the priory were for a time dispossessed of their church and monastic buildings, which were turned into a fortress during the strife between the earl of Chester and Robert Marmion (Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 177). (VCH 1908)

Eodem anno Robertus Marmium, vir bellicosus, qui monachos Coventrenses a suo monasterio expulerat, et de ecclesia illa castellum fecerat, dum contra hostes decertaret, inter praedones sous anti ipsum monasterium solus peremptus est, et excommunicatus morte depascitur sempiterna. (Matthew Paris from Luard)

in 1143 warrior Robert Marmion used the partially built priory as his stronghold in an ultimately failed attempt to take control of Coventry castle from Earl Ranulf of Chester. He threw out the resident monks and fortified the church, surrounding it by a defensive trench of which remains have been excavated. (Historic Coventy).

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1391851.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MCT2048.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Rob Orland, Historic Coventy
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 97
  Soden, Iain, 2005, Coventry: The Hidden History p. 42
  Rylatt, Margaret and Mason, Paul, 2003, The Archaeology of the Medieval Cathedral and Priory of St. Mary, Coventry (City Development Directorate,
  Coventry City Council) p. 137
  Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 27
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 485
  Stephens, W.B. (ed), 1969, VCH Warwickshire Vol. 8 p. 125 online transcription
  Page, Wm. (ed), 1908, VCH Warwickshire Vol. 2 p. 52-3 online transcription
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Luard, H.R (ed), 1874, Matthaei Parisiensis monachi Sancti Albani. Chronica majora (Rolls Series 57) Vol. 2 p. 177 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Dugdale, Wm., 1656, The Antiquities of Warwickshire (Thomas Warren) p. 101 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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