The Gatehouse website logo
A comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales and the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Liverpool Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;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

In the civil parish of Liverpool.
In the historic county of Lancashire.
Modern Authority of Liverpool.
1974 county of Merseyside.

OS Map Grid Reference: SJ34269027
Latitude 53.40514° Longitude -2.99030°

Liverpool Castle has been described as a certain Masonry Castle.

There are no visible remains.
Description

Liverpool Castle is first mentioned in 1347 among the estates of the honour of Lancaster as being moated with four towers. During the Civil War it was occupied by the Royalists in 1643, and in 1659 Parliament ordered it to be demolished. But only the gatehouse and part of the walls were pulled down. In 1725 the castle was completely demolished for the construction of St George's Church, which has since been demolished (Fishwick 1901).
In 1927 during the excavations for a public convenience in Derby Square NW of the Queen Victoria Memorial, the west moat was found.
The north moat was found during the excavations for the now (1928) Midland and National Provincial Banks. Some twenty feet from the SW corner of the latter Bank a subterranean tunnel running in a southerly direction below James Street was found. It is probable that the tunnel connected the moat or ditch with the old tower or some defences on the shore. A sewer has now been constructed along the tunnel (Larkin 1927).
A castle was built at Liverpool early in the reign of Henry III, probably by William de Ferrers. It became a Lancastrian possession and thence a royal castle in 1399. There are references to a gateway, curtain wall, chapel and interval tower or angle tower in the 15th century (HKW). (PastScape)

Cox's article of 1892 is elderly and has some esoteric content that needs to be read with circumspection but is a thorough examination of primary sources, antiquarian descriptions and archaeological remains. A replica of the ruins of this castle, based on Cox's conjectures was started to be built at Rivington (see Air Photo in 1912 but never finished.

The patent letter of Henry III given to William Ferrers in 1235 was not a licence to crenellate or fortify his castle (The term licentia does not occur in the text). It was a royal request to the local population to support (faciant rationabile auxilium) Ferrers in strengthen his (?already existing) castle.

It has been incorrectly suggested that a Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1235 Jan 19 (Click on the date for details of this supposed licence.).

Links to mapping and other online resources
Data >
PastScape                
Maps >
OS getamap   Streetmap   Old-Maps   Where's the path      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   EarthTools          
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   Flashearth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
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.
I do acknowledge the help I get.
This record last updated on Monday, June 17, 2013
Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤