Piel Castle: A Medieval Fortress on Piel Island, United Kingdom

Visitor Information

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Official Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk

Country: United Kingdom

Civilization: Medieval European

Site type: Military

Remains: Castle

History

Piel Castle is located on Piel Island, near Barrow-in-Furness, in the United Kingdom. It was built in the early 14th century by the monks of Furness Abbey, a powerful religious community of medieval England.

The castle’s construction began around 1327 under the direction of John Cockerham, the Abbot of Furness Abbey. This followed a licence to fortify, known as a licence to crenellate, granted by King Edward III. The primary purpose of the castle was to control and protect the nearby harbour, which was vital for trade, and to defend against Scottish raids that had troubled the region in 1316 and again in 1322. It is believed that Piel Castle may have been built on or near the site of an earlier fortification from the 12th century, possibly erected by monks during the reign of King Stephen, though the details of this earlier structure remain uncertain.

Architectural research reveals that the castle was developed in three main stages. Initially, a central keep was constructed to serve as a summer residence for the abbey’s leadership. This was followed by the building of an inner bailey—an enclosed courtyard with defensive walls—and, later on, an outer bailey to strengthen its defenses further. Despite these efforts, the castle’s fortifications were somewhat outdated even when the work was completed.

In 1408, Abbot John Bolton requested permission to dismantle the castle’s defenses due to the expensive upkeep. However, King Henry IV halted this plan, recognising the site’s strategic importance, and rebuilding work resumed around 1429. During the late 15th century, the castle gained a less official role as a hub for smuggling wool, which led to complaints from merchants in Calais, then a major English trading port.

Piel Castle also played a part in national politics when, in 1487, Lambert Simnel, a pretender claiming the English throne during the Wars of the Roses, used the castle as a base shortly before his defeat at the Battle of Stoke Field.

By the early 16th century, the castle was noted to be in serious decline. Following the dissolution of Furness Abbey in 1537, when Henry VIII disbanded monasteries across England, the castle passed into Crown ownership. It was later granted to the Duke of Albemarle after the monarchy was restored in 1660. During the late 18th century, the island began to serve a maritime role, acting as a base for pilots guiding ships safely through nearby waters.

In 1811, the romantic poet William Wordsworth visited Piel Castle and composed a poem inspired by its atmosphere. The castle suffered further damage in the early 19th century due to severe sea erosion, which caused parts of the keep to collapse. Between 1877 and 1878, Walter Scott, the Duke of Buccleuch, undertook major restoration work. This included building protective outworks to defend against ongoing erosion, although much of the medieval fabric was lost during this process.

In 1920, Piel Castle and the island were donated to the town of Barrow-in-Furness as a memorial to those lost in World War I. The site came under the care of English Heritage in 1973. An archaeological survey carried out in 1984 by Rachel Newman of Lancaster University led to further restoration, completed in 1991. Today, the castle is protected as a Grade I listed building, though rising coastal erosion due to climate change continues to endanger its survival, prompting ongoing conservation efforts.

Remains

Piel Castle is designed as a concentric fortress, a style that features multiple layers of defensive walls arranged one inside the other. At its core stands a three-storey keep, located at the south-eastern corner of the site, surrounded by two increasingly larger enclosures known as the inner and outer baileys. These baileys were defended by stone curtain walls extending to the northwest, creating a fortified complex.

The castle was primarily constructed from local beach stones held together with liquid mortar, giving it a sturdy foundation. For finer architectural details, such as doorways and window frames, red sandstone ashlar—finely cut and dressed stone—was imported from the mainland. The keep itself rises about 45 feet (14 meters) high and occupies a footprint measuring roughly 76 by 74 feet (23 by 23 meters). It is built on a low mound of clay, consistent with the rest of the castle’s base, and features prominent buttresses for structural support. A tower is positioned on the keep’s south-eastern corner, enhancing its imposing profile.

Originally, the keep’s entrance was at ground level but was later modified by adding a gatehouse on the north side, raising the doorway to the first floor. This gatehouse measures approximately 25 by 16 feet (7.6 by 4.9 meters). Above the gatehouse’s entrance arch sits a carved figure of a woman, thought by some to represent Salome, a biblical figure, though this remains a matter of interpretation. The keep’s upper floors contained large windows on the first and second stories, but lower sections of these openings were blocked off over time. Inside, the keep had an unusual design with each floor divided into three parts by internal walls, creating central hallways that ran through every level. Unfortunately, the eastern side of the keep has collapsed due to erosion by the sea.

Encircling the keep, the inner and outer baileys are roughly square in shape, with defensive ditches and towers. The outer bailey wall is up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) thick and protected by a wide moat measuring about 13 meters (43 feet) across and nearly 3 meters (9.8 feet) deep. The towers on this wall are roughly 15.5 feet (4.7 meters) wide. Similarly, the inner bailey’s walls are around 8 feet thick and guarded by a moat about 25 feet (7.6 meters) wide. Towers and a gatehouse defending the inner bailey were built shortly after the initial construction phase, enhancing its defensive capabilities.

Within the outer bailey stands a stone building commonly referred to as “the chapel,” which measures 31 by 15 feet (9.4 by 4.6 meters). Its original purpose is unclear, and it was likely added late in the castle’s history, possibly after the main structures had already fallen into ruin.

The island and castle have suffered extensive loss due to sea erosion, with many fallen stones scattered on the beach below the fortress. Local lore speaks of a hidden tunnel linking the castle to Furness Abbey that was used by monks as an escape route. Despite this enduring legend, no archaeological evidence has ever been found to support the existence of such a passage.