Lulworth Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Poyning's Castle; Lullewarde; Lullewarden; Lolleworth; Loleworhe; Lulleworda; Est Lilleworth

In the civil parish of East Lulworth.
In the historic county of Dorset.
Modern Authority of Dorset.
1974 county of Dorset.
Medieval County of Dorset.

OS Map Grid Reference: SY855821
Latitude 50.63912° Longitude -2.20873°

Lulworth Castle has been described as a probable Timber Castle, and also as a probable Masonry Castle.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Castle is documented at West Lulworth 1146 when it was taken by the Earl of Gloucester. (PastScape–ref. King map reference SY8381)

The goodly maner place of the Newborowes, lords of Est Lilleworth, is hard by the paroch chirch. (Leland)

The site of the C12 castle is not known. There is nothing in Malmesbury's Chronicle to suggest it was in West Lulworth. The Grade 1 listed hunting lodge of 1610 now bearing the name of Lulworth Castle (SY855821), is close to the parish church of St Andrew and may well be the site of the medieval manor house of East Lulworth and is a possible site for the C12 castle and is sometimes suggested as the site of a late medieval masonry castle (It is even suggested the C17 house follows the form and foundations of this castle with comparison made to Nunney Castle). Hutchin recorded foundations being dug up near the west end of the church and supposed these might be the Newborough's manor house.

A medieval manor house existed in Lulworth Camp beside a lost chapel of ease or church, confusingly, also dedicated to St Andrew (see PastScape no. 455589.
Lulworth St Andrew, anciently a manor, but now only a farm, was mentioned circa 1288 and 1303 and was probably one of the "Lolowordes" mentioned in Domesday (Hutchin p. 377-8).
St Andrew's Farm (SY 836810), mentioned by Strode circa 1628, and so called from 'a church which stood there dedicated to St Andrew'. Manor of 'Lulworth St Andrew' mentioned 1302, 1430 and 1502 (Miles). (PastScape no. 455588)

It may be argued that West Lulworth, beside Lulworth Cove, would be the more strategic place to have a castle. Bindon Abbey was founded in 1149, for Cistercian monks, by William de Glastonia (PastScape no. 455101 map reference SY83017986). There are possible examples of minor castle sites of Anarchy date being given as the base for a monastic foundation (ie. Bridlington; Trentham).

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1392643; 455588; 455589.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 6 025 064.

Books
- Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 22
  Pomeroy, Colin, 1998, Discover Dorset Castles and Forts (Dovecote Press)
  Wilton, P., 1995, Castles of Dorset (Wimborne)
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 129
  Mills, A.D., 1977, The Place-Names of Dorset, Part 1 (English Place-Name Society 52) p. 131-2
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 233
  Berkeley, Joan, 1971, Lulworth and the Welds (Blackmore)
  RCHME, 1970, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset Vol. 2: south-east (HMSO) p. 144- online transcription
  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. 1 p. 247 online copy
  Hutchins, J., 1861-73 (3edn), History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset (Blandford) Vol. 1 p. 371-
Periodical Articles
- Simonich, Sue, 2011 Feb, 'In Search of Castle Lulworth' Dorset Castles Research Group Newsletter No. 2 online copy online copy online copy online copy online copy
  Goodall, John, 2000 Jan 13, 'Lulworth Castle, Dorset' Country Life Vol. 43.9 p. 34-39 (reprinted in Liddiard, Robert (ed), 2016, Late Medieval Castles (Boydell Press) p. 157-166)
  Blundell, W., 1892, 'Lulworth Castle' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol. 13 p. 141 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.)
- Potter, K.R. (ed), 1955, The Historia Novella of William of Malmesbury (Nelson's Medieval Texts) p. 76 (A revised edition by Edmund King (Oxford University Press, 1999) should also be consulted)
  Giles, J.A., 1866, William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England from the earliest period to the reign of King Stephen (London: Henry G. Bohn) p. 534-5 online copy
  Hardy, D.H., (ed), 1840, Willelmi Malmesbriensis monachi gestis regum Anglorum atque Historiae novella (London) p. 768 online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 253 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- 2010, The Lost Castle of Lulworth (Dorset Castles Research Group)

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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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Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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