Lichfield Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Castrum Lichesfeldenfe

In the civil parish of Lichfield.
In the historic county of Staffordshire.
Modern Authority of Staffordshire.
1974 county of Staffordshire.
Medieval County of Staffordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SK119095
Latitude 52.68236° Longitude -1.82644°

Lichfield Castle has been described as a Timber Castle although is doubtful that it was such.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Lichfield Castle is said to have existed in the period between 1129 to 1148, probably in the Wade/Frog Street area, although place-name evidence may indicate that the allusion to a castle may derive from a possible Saxon burh. There may also have been a timber phase between the late 11th to early 12th centuries. There are no remains, but Richard II is said to have spent Christmas 1397 there and was confined there two years later; Castle Field was recorded in the south part of the town circa 1540, and Castle Ditch in the east part in 1798. An account written in 1347 by a canon of Lichfield states that Roger de Clinton (1129-1148) fortified the castle of Lichfield. (PastScape)

Comments

There are no remains, but castle field was recorded in the south part of the town circa 1540, and Castle Ditch in the east part in 1798. An account written in 1347 by a Cannon of Lichfield states that Bishop Roger de Clinton (1129-1148) fortified the castle of Lichfield. VCH attributes castle place names in south of town to possible Anglo-Saxon fortification at Borrowcop Hill and places castle in Cathedral Close. It does seem that the fortified cathedral close was described as a castellum about 1200. It is just possible that there was a timber castle of some sort in the town in the early C12 (probably started at the same time as Tamworth and Stafford i.e. c.1070) but the tenurial history (the town was held by the church) does not really support that idea. The work by Bishop Clinton was probably done on the cathedral close. Leland noted the supposed southern location of the castle but felt the Close was the true location of the castle. The 'castle' may be a reference to a bishop's unfortified court house within the town.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 306620.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 04286.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 1997, Castles and Moated Mansions of Staffordshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 32
  Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p. 61
  Greenslade, M.W. (ed), 1990, VCH Staffordshire Vol. 14 p. 7, 60 online transcription
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 452
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 225
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
Periodical Articles
- 1983-4, Transactions of South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol. 25
  Palliser, D.M., 1972, 'Staffordshire Castles: A Provisional List' Staffordshire Archaeology Vol. 1 p. 5-8
  Barns, T., 1913, North Staffordshire Field Club transactions Vol. 48 p. 123-8
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Wharton, H., 1691, Anglia Sacra Vol. 1 p. 434 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)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 437, 443
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1908, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 2 p. 99 online copy ; Vol. 5 p. 19 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.

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