This a bibliography of texts which may be of interest for those who want to increase their understanding of the medieval castle etc. It is also the general bibliography that informs the comments made in the Gatehouse website.
This is by no means a comprehensive listing of sources and texts although it is a reasonable selection of the best sources and texts available for English and Welsh medieval defenses and palaces. Titles in bold are those of particular value or interest.
Click on the hypertexted title for a brief description of the book and its full publication details.
General castle texts
These are textbooks giving a general overview of the form and function of castles and other fortifications;
- R. Allen Brown, 1954, English Castles
- R. Allen Brown, 1989, Castles from the Air
- Charles Coulson, 2003, Castles in Medieval Society
- Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham, 2003, Medieval Castles
- Plantagenet Somerset Fry, 1980, Castles of the British Isles
- John Goodall, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650
- Christopher Gravett, 2003, Norman Stone Castles
- Alfred Harvey, 1911, The Castles and Walled Towns of England
- Malcolm Hislop, 2016, Castle Builders Approaches to Castle Design and Construction in the Middle Ages
- Matthew Johnson, 2002, Behind the Castle Gate
- J. E. Kaufmann and H.W. Kaufmann, 2001, The Medieval Fortress
- David J. Cathcart King, 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum
- David J. Cathcart King, 1988, The Castle in England and Wales: An Interpretive History
- Francois Matarasso, 1995, The English Castle
- Tom McNeill, 1992, English Heritage Book of Castles
- Marc Morris, 2003, Castle
- B.H. St. J. O'Neil, 1973, Castles
- Colin Platt, 1982, The Castle in Medieval England and Wales
- N. J. G. Pounds, 1990, The Medieval Castle in England and Wales A Social and Political History
- Derek F. Renn, 1973 (2nd edition), Norman Castles in Britain
- Sheila Sancha, 1991, The Castle Story
- W. Douglas Simpson, 1966, Castles in Britain
- A Hamilton Thompson, 1912, The English Castle (original published as Military Architecture in England during the Middle Ages)
- Michael W. Thompson, 1987, The Decline of the Castle
- Michael W. Thompson, 1991, The Rise of the Castle
- Sidney Toy, 1985 (originally 1939), Castles; Their Construction and History
- Sidney Toy, 1966, The Castles of Great Britain
- W. Douglas Simpson, 1957, Exploring Castles
- Graham Keevil, 2000, Medieval Palaces: An Archaeology
- Thomas Beaumont James, 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England
- Naomi Payne, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury
- M. W. Thompson, 1998, Medieval Bishops' Houses in England and Wales
- Simon Thurley, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England
- Andrew Saunders, 1989, Fortress Britain; Artillery Fortifications in the British Isles and Ireland
- Andrew Saunders, 1997, The English Heritage Book of Channel Defences
- Peter Harrington (Illustrated by Brian Delf), 2007, The Castles of Henry VIII
- Hilary L. Turner, 1970, Town Defences in England and Wales
- Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham, 2005, Medieval Town Walls
- H. G. Ramm, R. W. McDowell, Eric Mercer, 1970, Shielings and Bastles
- Julia Grint, 2008, Bastles: An Introduction to the Bastle Houses of Northumberland
Texts giving a closer view of the social, archaeological or architectural aspects of castles
- Ella S. Armitage, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of The British Isles
- Christopher Brooke, 2000, Safe Sanctuaries (on Fortified Churches)
- Reginald Allen Brown, 1989, Castles, Conquest and Charters
- H. M. Colvin et al, 1963-82, The History of the King's Works (6 vols.)
- Christopher Constable, 2003, Aspects of the archaeology of the castle in the north of England C 1066-1216
- David Cornell, 2006, English castle garrisons in the Anglo-Scottish wars of the fourteenth century
- Charles L. H. Coulson, 2003, Castles in Medieval Society
- Charles L. H. Coulson, 1994, 'The Castles of the Anarchy'
- Oliver Creighton, 2002, Castles and Landscapes
- Oliver Creighton and R.A. Higham, 2004, 'Castle studies and the 'landscape' agenda'
- Oliver Creighton, 2009, Designs Upon the Land
- Brian Davidson, 1969, 'Early earthwork castles: a new model'
- John A. Davies (editor) et al Castles and the Anglo-Norman World
- Philip Dixon, 1972, 'Shielings and Bastles: A Reconsideration of Some Problems'
- Philip Dixon, 1979, 'Towerhouse, Pelehouses and Border Society'
- C. Drage, 1987, Urban Castles (Council for British Archaeology Research Report 61)
- Keith Durham (Illustrated by Graham Turner), 2008, Strongholds of the Border Reivers
- Richard Eales, 1990, 'Royal Power and Castles in Norman England'
- Anthony Emery, 2007, Discovering Medieval Houses
- Anthony Emery, 2016, Seats of power in Europe during the Hundred Years War: an architectural study from 1330 to 1480
- Christopher Gerrard, 2002, Medieval Archaeology
- Roberta Gilchrist, 2012, Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course
- Mark Girouard, 1978, Life in the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History
- John Goodall, 2012, 'The English Gatehouse'
- Christopher Gravett, 2003, Norman Stone Castles, The British Isles 1066-1216
- Christopher Gravett, 2009, English Castle 1200-1300
- Peter Harrison, 2004, Castles of God
- Robert Higham and Philip Barker, 2004 (new edn.), Timber Castles
- Malcolm Hislop, 2007, John Lewyn of Durham: A Medieval Mason in Practice
- Malcolm Hislop, 2009, Medieval Masons
- Julian Humphreys, 2007, Enemies at the Gate
- Graham Keevil, 2000, Medieval Palaces: An Archaeology
- John R. Kenyon, 1981, 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales'
- John R. Kenyon and Richard Avent (eds), 1987, Castles in Wales and the Marches
- John R. Kenyon, 1990, Medieval Fortifications
- John R. Kenyon and Kieran O'Conor (eds), 2003, The Medieval Castle in Ireland and Wales
- Andy King, 2007, 'Fortress and fashion statements: gentry castles in fourteenth-century Northumberland'
- Robert Liddiard (ed), 2003, Anglo-Norman Castles
- Robert Liddiard, 2005, Castles in Context
- Robert Liddiard, 2005, The Castle Landscape of Anglo-Norman East Anglia: A Regional Perspective
- Robert Liddiard (ed), 2007, The Medieval Park new perspectives
- Robert Liddiard (ed), 2016, Late Medieval Castles
- Andrew Lowerre, 2005, Placing Castles in the Conquest: Landscape, Lordship and Local Politics in the South-Eastern Midlands, 1066-1100
- Lucy Marten-Holden, 2001, 'Dominion in the Landscape'
- Tony McAleavy, 1998, Life in a Medieval Castle
- Gwyn Meirion-Jones, Edward Impey and Michael Jones (editors), 2002, The Seigneurial Residence in Western Europe AD c800-1600
- B. M. Morley, 1976, Henry VIII and the Development of Coastal Defence
- B. H. St. J. O'Neil, 1960, Castles and Cannon: A Study of Early Artillery Fortifications in England
- Stuart Prior, 2006, A Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War
- John Timbs and Alexander Gunn, 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales
- T. H. Turner and J. H. Parker, 1859, Some Account of Domestic Architecture in England
- H. E. Jean le Patourel, 1973, The Moated Sites of Yorkshire
- Neil Phillips, 2005, Earthwork Castles of Gwent and Ergyng AD1050-1250
- Peter Purton, 2009, A History of the Early Medieval Siege: c.450-1200
- Peter Purton, 2010, A History of the Late Medieval Siege: 1200-1500
- Oliver Rackham, 1986, The History of The Countryside
- Derek Renn, 1959, 'Mottes: A Classification'
- John Rickard, 2002, The Castle Community
- Charles Ryder, 2011, The Spiral Stair or Vice: its origins, role and meaning in medieval stone castles
- Michael G. Shapland, 2017, 'Anglo-Saxon towers of lordship and the origins of the castle in England'
- Sarah Speight, 1993, Family, faith and fortification: Yorkshire 1066-1250
- Sarah Speight, 2000, 'Castle Warfare in the Gesta Stephani'
- Arnold Taylor, 1985, Studies in Castles and Castle-Building
- Arnold Taylor, 1986, The Welsh Castles of Edward I
- Michael Thompson, 1995, The Medieval Hall The basis of secular domestic life, 600-1600 AD
- Sidney Toy, 1955, A History of Fortification from 3000 BC to AD 1700
- Philip Warner, 1971, The Medieval Castle; Life in a fortress in peace and war
- Abigail Wheatley, 2004, The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England
- Kenneth Wiggins, 2003, Siege Mines and Underground Warfare
- Diane Williams and John Kenyon (eds), 2009, The Impact of the Edwardian Castles in Wales
- D.R. Wilson, 2000, Air Photo Interpretation for Archaeologists
- Margaret Wood, 1965, The English Mediaeval House
- Duncan Wright and Oliver Creighton (eds), 2017, Castles, Siegeworks and Settlements: Surveying the Archaeology of the Twelfth Century
General medieval history (mainly regarding politics, 'great people' and 'great events')
- R.H.C. Davis, 1976, The Normans and their Myth
- Frank Barlow, 1988, The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216
- Michael T. Clanchy, 1998, England and its Rulers, 1066-1272
- Christopher Dyer, 2009, Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain, 850-1520 (economic history)
- Maurice Keen (ed), 1999, Medieval Warfare A History
- Edmund King, 1998, medieval England from hastings to bosworth
- Colin Platt, 1978, Medieval England - A Social History and Archaeology from the Conquest to 1600AD
- William Rees, 1951, An Historical Atlas of Wales
- Trevor Rowley, 1997, Norman England
- Trevor Rowley, 1983, The Norman Heritage 1066-1200
The Oxford History of England series and is successor The New Oxford History of England series are seminal texts.
- Robert Bartlett, 2002, The New Oxford History of England: England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075Ð1225
- Michael Prestwich, 2005, The New Oxford History of England: Plantagenet England, 1225Ð1360
- G.L. Harriss, 2005, The New Oxford History of England: Shaping the Nation: England, 1360Ð1461
- J. D. Mackie, 1952, The Oxford History of England: The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 (the 'New' volume, by John Watts, scheduled for publication in 2014)
- Penny Williams, 1995 The New Oxford History of England: The Later Tudors: England, 1547Ð1603
Text on specific aspects of medieval history relating to fortifications and palaces
- Richard Almond, 2003, Medieval Hunting
- John Fletcher, 2011, Gardens of Earthly Delight: The History of Deer Parks
- Roberta Gilchrist, 2012, Medieval Life: Archaeology and the Life Course
- Robert Liddiard (ed), 2007, The Medieval Park: new perspectives
- Oliver Rackham, 1986, The History of The Countryside
- Peter Rex, 2009, 1066 — A New History of the Norman Conquest
- Marc Morris, 2013, The Norman Conquest
- A Williams, 1995, The English and the Norman Conquest
- C.M. Woolgar, 2006, The Senses in Late Medieval England
Primary Sources
Texts dealing with Castle Studies
- Oliver Creighton and Robert Liddiard, 2008, 'Fighting Yesterday's Battle: Beyond War or Status in Castle Studies'
- David Mercer, 2006, 'The trouble with paradigms. A historiographical study on the development of ideas in the discipline of castle studies' Archaeological Dialogues Vol. 13.1 pp. 93-109
- Oliver Creighton, 2012, Early European Castles: Aristocracy and Authority, AD 800-1200
- Charles Coulson, 1996, 'Cultural realities and reappraisals in English castle studies'
- Christopher Gerrard, 2002, Medieval Archaeology
- Robert Liddiard, 2005, 'Tutor's Guide to Teaching Medieval Castles'
- David Mercer, 2006, 'The trouble with paradigms. A historiographical study on the development of ideas in the discipline of castle studies'
- Colin Platt, 2007, 'Revisionism in Castle Studies: A Caution'
- Sarah Speight, 2004, 'British Castle Studies in the Late 20th and 21st Centuries'
Older texts now of interest mainly to those concerned with the development of castle studies
Books dealing with Specific Castles
The following is a short selection of full and detailed books dealing with individual castles which amount to much more than a guide book, or detailed archaeological reports of excavations, other such book can be found in the individual site records;
- Paul Bennett et al, 1982, Excavations at Canterbury Castle
- Guy Beresford et al, 1987, Goltho: The Development of an Early Mediaeval Manor, c.850-1150
- Geoffrey Parnell, 1993, The Tower of London
- Jonathan Coad, 1995, Dover Castle
- Peter Ellis (ed), 2000, Ludgershall Castle: Excavations by Peter Addyman 1964-1972
- Robert Higham and Philip Barker, 2000, Hen Domen, Montgomary
- Ian Roberts, 2002, Pontefract Castle: Archaeological excavations, 1982-86
- Philip Lindley (ed), 2004, The Early History of Lincoln Castle
- Ed Dennison (ed), 2005, Within the Pale: The Story of Sherriff Hutton Park
- David Austin et al, 2007, Acts of Perception: A study of Barnard Castle in Teesdale
- Rachel Barrowman, Colleen Batey and Christopher Morris, 2007, Excavations at Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, 1990-1999
- Jeremy Knight and Andy Johnson (eds), 2008, Usk Castle, Priory and Town
- Michael Fulford and Stephen Rippon, 2011, Pevensey Castle, Sussex: Excavations in the Roman Fort and Medieval Keep, 1993-95
- Brian Grimsditch, Michael Nevell and Richard Nevell, 2012, Buckton Castle and the castles of North West England
- Neil Christie, Oliver Creighton, Matt Edgeworth and Helena Hamerow, 2013, Transforming townscapes: From burh to borough: the archaeology of Wallingford, AD 800-1400
- John Kent, Derek Renn and Anthony Streeten, 2013, Excavations at South Mimms Castle, Hertfordshire 1960-91
- Paul Martin Remfry, 2013, Harlech Castle and its True Origins
- Ron Shoesmith, 2014, Goodrich Castle: Its History and Building
- Neil Ludlow, 2014, Carmarthen Castle: The Archaeology of Power
- Daniel W. Elsworth and Thomas Mace (editors), 2015, Aldingham Motte, Cumbria and its environs in the Medieval period
- Matthew Johnson (ed), 2017, Lived Experience in the Later Middle Ages: Studies of Bodiam and Other Elite Landscapes in South-Eastern England
Both
English Heritage and
CADW (Welsh Historic Monuments) produce individual guidebook for the castles in their care. These are universally of good quality, the CADW guides noticeably so, although occasionally the texts are quite old even if the revision of illustrations and publication dates makes them seem new. See the organisations respective web sites for availability.
The National Trust produces guidebooks for some of the castles in its care, these are of variable quality from the point of view of medieval castellology. Bodium castle has a fine guide, Powis castle has a poor one.
Other castles owned privately or by local authorities have guides of very variable quality, most are barely adequate, none reach the standard of CADW guides but a few are of interest. Some other authors and publishers produce books on individual castles. Some of the great castles like Windsor have numerous books, many of little value. Paul Martin Remfry has produced many texts on individual castle, mostly in the Welsh Marches. These are of high academic quality, if occasionally controversial. Basic details of guide books and other references to individual sites can be found on the individual site pages in the Gatehouse website.
