Hereford Castle: A Medieval Fortress in England
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- English
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page8 sections
History
Hereford Castle was a medieval fortress in Hereford, United Kingdom, founded sometime before 1052 and counted among the earliest castles in England. Its exact foundation date is uncertain. Built within the town’s existing defences, it protected Hereford during repeated attacks from Wales and later became a royal stronghold involved in civil wars, baronial rebellion, and campaigns against Welsh forces.
Foundation and Norman Rule
During the eleventh century, Herefordshire faced repeated attacks from Wales. Ralph, the son of the Count of Vexin and Earl of Hereford from about 1046, chose to establish the castle within Hereford’s existing town defences rather than continually repair those defences. Welsh forces sacked Hereford and probably destroyed the castle in 1055. Harold Godwinson repaired the town’s defences in 1056, although the contemporary record does not explain what happened to the castle itself. It appears to have been rebuilt by the following decade and was in use by 1067, when Eadric the Wild harassed its garrison.
After the Norman Conquest of 1066, William FitzOsbern became Earl of Hereford and may have rebuilt the castle. Following his death in 1071, his son Roger took possession, but Roger joined an unsuccessful rebellion against William the Conqueror. The castle was consequently forfeited. In 1154, Henry II granted Hereford’s motte, a raised earthwork supporting a fortified position, to Roger of Gloucester. Another rebellion followed, and Henry reclaimed it. The castle then remained in royal possession for the rest of its history.
Civil Wars and Royal Campaigns
In April 1138, during the Anarchy, the civil war in England between King Stephen and supporters of his rival Matilda, Geoffrey Talbot captured Hereford Castle from Stephen’s supporters. Stephen besieged it later that year, and the garrison surrendered. Geoffrey Talbot and Miles of Gloucester captured the castle again in 1140 from another garrison supporting Stephen. Their siege engines attacked from two directions, and the garrison surrendered once more. The fighting desecrated the cemetery of St Guthlac’s Church, where earth was taken to form a rampart and buried bodies were disturbed during construction.
In 1216, King John appointed Walter de Lacy sheriff of Herefordshire and placed him in charge of the royal castle at Hereford. Strengthening work followed in 1217 to protect the stronghold against Welsh attacks. During the Second Barons’ War, a thirteenth-century conflict between rebellious English barons led by Simon de Montfort and the royal government, the castle temporarily served from 1264 to 1267 as the headquarters of the baronial party.
During the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr from 1400 to 1411, Henry IV based himself at Hereford Castle while preparing sorties and campaigns into Wales. Herefordshire was largely Royalist during the English Civil War. The castle itself does not appear to have played a major military role, although Hereford changed hands several times and endured an unsuccessful Scottish siege in 1645.
Demolition and Transformation
The castle was later sold to Sir Richard Harley and several associates, after which it declined. Most of the remaining structure appears to have been demolished in the 1650s, and its stone was reused in other buildings in Hereford. In the mid-eighteenth century, the remaining ruins were ordered to be cleared. The former bailey, an enclosed area adjoining or surrounding the motte, was converted into a park now known as Castle Green, while the former moat became Castle Pool.
Castle Green was leased to the local council in 1833 for 200 years, and the council remains responsible for maintaining it as a recreation ground. A monument to Horatio Nelson, the British admiral associated with major British naval victories during the Napoleonic Wars, was erected at the centre of the former bailey in 1809. Writing in the early sixteenth century, the English antiquary John Leland described Hereford Castle as nearly as large as Windsor Castle and as one of the fairest and strongest castles in England.
Remains
Castle Layout
Hereford Castle occupied the eastern part of Hereford, in the same general area as the later castle. Dense settlement lay to the north and west, while the River Wye formed the southern setting. The castle followed a motte-and-bailey plan. Castle Green occupies the former bailey, and Castle Pool marks the position of the moat. The site is now a demolished castle location rather than a standing fortress, because most surviving structural remains were removed in the 1650s and the building stone was reused elsewhere in the city.
Siege Earthworks
The siege of 1140 altered the ground around the castle. Earth taken from the cemetery of St Guthlac’s Church was used to form a rampart, and the construction disturbed burials. Catapults and other siege engines were positioned to attack the castle from two sides, showing how the surrounding earthworks were adapted during the conflict.
Castle Green Monument
The Lord Nelson monument stands at the centre of the former bailey on Castle Green. Erected in 1809, it belongs to the later transformation of the castle grounds into a park after the medieval fortress had been largely demolished.
