Bolingbroke Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

Castle, built in circa 1220-30 and enlarge in C14. It was twice rebuilt in the C15 and C16. It withstood a siege during the Civil War in 1643, after which it was sleighted, deserted and fell into ruin, now visible only as a series of earthworks and ruins. It was excavated between 1965 and 1973. The castle was of compact enclosure design complete with a large gatehouse, round towers and a moat. Today the castle is a ruin with only the ground floors of the towers remaining and the lower parts of the walls. Squared greenstone rubble, ashlar dressings. Courtyard plan with octagonal and round corner towers. Walls stand to about 6'0". Built by Randulph de Blundeville, the Earl of Lincoln, became the home of the powerful John of Gaunt in C14 and was the birthplace of his son, Henry Bolingbroke, who later became King Henry IV. Brown writes held 1154-98 by Roumare (sometime earl Lincoln) 1198 on held by Blundeville earl Chester. The strange earthwork by the castle has been described as fishponds in the past but probably represents a Civil War fort.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument number 1008318, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 22623
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1309023
English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 354204.
County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 43574.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/BolingbrokeCastle/
  English Heritage official site (For the English Heritage Portico research page follow the History and Research link)
  Heritage Lincolnshire Heritage Lincolnshire
  CastleUK.net
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Raving Loony Productions
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 180, 181-3, 293, 341
  Osborne, Mike, 2010, Defending Lincolnshire: A Military History from Conquest to Cold War (The History Press) p. 35, 44-5, 58, 68, 90, 91
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 44-5 (plan)
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 141-2
  Roffe, David, 1993, 'Castles' in Bennett, S. and Bennett, N. (eds), An Historical Atlas of Lincolnshire (University of Hull Press) p. 40-1
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 260
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 191-2
  Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1975, The history of the King's Works Vol. 3: 1485-1660 (part 1) (London) p. 234-7
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 571-2
  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. 426-7 online copy
  Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol. 3 (London) p. 16-7 online copy
  Weir, 1820, History and Descriptive Sketches of Horncastle (London) p. 67, 71-3
Periodical Articles
- Drewett, Peter and Freke, D J., 1974, 'The Great Hall at Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 18 p. 163-5 download copy
  Thompson M.W., 1974, 'Old Bolingbroke Castle' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 131 p. 314-7
  Thompson M.W., 1969, 'Further work at Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 13 p. 216-7 and plate download copy
  Thompson M.W., 1966, 'The origins of Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 10 p. 152-8 download copy
  Thompson M.W., 1965, 'An alert in 1318 to the constable of Bolingbrook Castle, Lincs' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 9 p. 167-8 download copy
  Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' 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)
  Massingberd, 1858, Associated Architectural Societies' reports and papers (Lincoln, York, Northampton, Bedford, Worcester, Leicester and Sheffield) Vol. 4 p. 230-46 (history of little merit)
  1821, The Gentleman's Magazine Part 2 p. 305-6 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.)
- Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) (lists sources for 1272-1422) p. 288-9
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. 289, 300, 304
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 5 p. 36 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Archaeological Project Services, 2002, Bolingbroke Castle, Old Bolingbroke. LCNCC:2002.327
  English Heritage, 1994, Revised Scheduling Document 22623

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