Stockport Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Stoppord; Stokeporta

In the civil parish of Stockport.
In the historic county of Cheshire.
Modern Authority of Stockport.
1974 county of Greater Manchester.
Medieval County of Cheshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ897905
Latitude 53.41346° Longitude -2.15680°

Stockport Castle has been described as a certain Timber Castle, and also as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are masonry footings remains.

Description

Stockport Castle is first mentioned in 1173 when Geoffrey de Costentyn held it against his father, Henry II. In 1537, two parcels of land were granted by the lord of the manor to expand the Market Place. Leland visited the town between 1535 and 1543, noting that the castle was decayed. in 1642, Stockport was one of several Cheshire fortifications which both parties (Royalists and Parliamentarians) agreed to demolish, although it is unlikely that it was garrisoned. Prince Rupert took the town on 05-May-1644, apparently without any problems, during his march to the relief of York. The castle area was finally demolished in 1775 by Sir George Warren. A plan showing the castle's position was created in 1680, and one of the walls was created in 1775 by the Rev. John Watson. From these, it is inferred that the bailey was similar to that at Pontefract and Launceston. Thomas Kay, writing in 1896, thought that remains he had identified were those of a putative town wall, but recent studies rather suggest that they are revetment for the bailey. These are extant at 7 Mealhouse Brow and behind 11 and 13 Great Underbank. The castle probably fell into disuse in the C14, although a 'Bastille room' or castle gaol was still in use in 1537. Excavations have failed to locate any trace of the bailey. (PastScape–ref. Dent)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1085399.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
Books
- Grimsditch, Brian, Nevell, Michael and Nevell, Richard, 2012, Buckton Castle and the Castles of the North West England (University of Salford Archaeological Monograph 2) p. 113
  Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 21
  Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p. 12
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 69
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 316
  Ridgway, Maurice Hill, 1958, 'Medieval Castles' in Sylvester, D. and Nulty, G. (eds), The Historical Atlas of Cheshire (Cheshire Community Council) p. 24-5
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 181 online copy
  Ormerod, G., 1882 (2edn), History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 3 p. 788
  Heginbotham, H., 1882, Stockport Ancient and Modern Vol. 1 p. 12, 41
  Ormerod, G., 1819, History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 3 p. 383- (tenurial history) online copy
  Watson, 1782, Memoirs of the Ancient Earls of Warren and Surrey (Warrington) Vol. 2 p. 190-5
Periodical Articles
- Richard Nevell, 2014-15, 'Castles as prisons' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 28 p. 203-224
  Dent, J.S., 1977, 'Recent excavations on the site of Stockport Castle' Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Vol. 79 p. 1-13
  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)
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Stubbs, Wm. (ed), 1867, Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis; Chronicle of the Reigns of Henry II and Richard I. A.D. 1169-1192 (London: Rolls Series 49) Vol. 1 p. 48 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 55
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1964, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Centaur Press) Vol. 5 p. 24

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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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