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Hertford Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Hartford

In the civil parish of Hertford.
In the historic county of Hertfordshire.
Modern Authority of Hertfordshire.
1974 county of Hertfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL325125
Latitude 51.795° Longitude -0.0784°

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

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

Description

Motte and Bailey. Remnants of C12 Flint walls. C15 gatehouse survives much altered and converted into house. Besiged in 1216, surrended after 1 month. Important Royal castle. Hertford Castle reputedly originated as a Saxon fort built by order of King Alfred against the Danes encamped at Ware. The castle was built (or reconstructed) by William I shortly after 1066 as a motte and bailey - the motte mount, 22 ft high, remains in the north angle of the castle precinct overlooking the river. In 1171-4, at the behest of Henry II £171 was spent, probably on the replacement of the wooden palisade by the flint rubble curtain wall. The castle was periodically improved and had a double moat, the outer moat following the line of the north side of Castle Street, and the east side of Parliament Square and The Wash. An embankment separated the two moats, broadening into the Outer Ward to the west of the Gate House. The inner moat ran the perimeter of the curtain wall. Long since infilled, the vestiges of the moats can be seen in the undulating land forms of the approach to the south postern from Castle Street, and in the hollow behind the properties in Castle Street and Parliament Square. The Bailey occupies an area of 2.3 acres, and the castle precinct 7.75 acres.
Links to mapping and other online resources
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Sources of information, references and further reading

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Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The information within this site is provided freely by me for educational purposes only.
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.
Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
This record last updated on Friday, May 3, 2013
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