Clitheroe Castle

Clitheroe Castle in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England is a motte and bailey castle built in a natural carboniferous limestone outcrop, grid reference SD742416.

It has been suggested that Clitheroe Castle may have been first built before 1086 as there is reference to the "castellatu Rogerii pictaviensis" in the Domesday Book. However, it is likely the passage refers to another castle.^[1] One alternative is that it was built around 1186 by Robert de Lacy as an administrative centre for his estates in the area but later passed by inheritance to the Crown. It consists of one of the smallest keeps in the country^{[nb 1]} and at one time it was surrounded by a curtain wall. It was anciently the seat of the Lords of Bowland.

A document from 1304 mentions ditches and moats surrounding the castle, however these have since been filled in.^[3]

There is a legend that the Devil threw a boulder from Pendle Hill and hit the castle creating the hole you can see today.

The museum underwent a £3.5-million refurbishment, starting in 2007 and open to the public in May 2009.^[4] Today the castle is freely open to the public and in the bailey is the Clitheroe Castle Museum, which does have an admission charge.

See also

• Honour of Clitheroe
• Pontefract Castle

References

Notes

1. ^ According to Lancashire County Council's website it is the second smallest surviving keep in England.^[2]

Footnotes

1. ^ Harfield 1991, p. 386, citing Edwards 1984
2. ^ Clitheroe Castle Museum –Castle Keep & Grounds, Lancashire County Council, http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/acs/sites/museums/venues/clitheroe/?siteid=4185&pageid=22610&e=e, retrieved 2011-01-12 
3. ^ Scheduled Ancient Monument – Clitheroe Castle, Lancashire County Council, http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/index.asp?siteid=4398&pageid=20455&e=e, retrieved 2011-01-26 
4. ^ News: Quality Assurance for Clitheroe Castle Museum, Lancashire County Council, 9 November 2009, http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/news/press_releases/y/m/release.asp?id=200911&r=PR09/0805, retrieved 2011-01-12 

Bibliography

• Adams, Paul (2005-6), 'Clitheroe Castle', Castle Studies Group Journal, Vol 19 p179–192
• Edwards, B. J. N. (1984), "George Vertue’s engraving of Clitheroe Castle", Antiquaries Journal 64: 366–372 
• Farrer, William; Brownbill, J. (eds) (1911), "Townships: Clitheroe", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, pp. 360–372, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53132 
• Fry, Plantagenet Somerset (1980), The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
• Gooderson, P.J. (1980), A History of Lancashire, Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-2588-1
• Harfield, C. G. (1991), "A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book", English Historical Review 106: 371–392, http://www.jstor.org/stable/573107 
• Jones, R.O. (1982), Clitheroe Castle
• Langshaw, A. (1940), A Guide to Clitheroe Castle

External links

• Clitheroe Castle
• Clitheroe Castle Virtual Tour Image
• Clitheroe Castle Museum

Coordinates: 53°52′12″N 2°23′38″W / 53.86996°N 2.39385°W / 53.86996; -2.39385