Scheduled Monument record MDR6242 - Bolsover Castle, Station Road, Old Bolsover
Type and Period (2)
- MOTTE AND BAILEY (Medieval to 21st Century - 1066 AD? to 2050 AD)
- KEEP (Medieval to Elizabethan - 1155 AD? to 1600 AD?)
Protected Status/Designation
Full Description
Bolsover Castle, Station Road, Old Bolsover, originally an 11th century motte and bailey castle.
The first castle at Bolsover -a motte and bailey- is said to have been built by William Peverel. A stone castle was probably not begun until the early part of the 12th century and has now entirely vanished. The present Keep or Little Castle, built in 1613 to circa 1616, stands in all probability on the foundations of the earlier Keep. The Riding School, the Gallery range and the Reception Rooms were probably all completed by 1634. The Castle was given to the nation by the Duke of Portland and is now maintained by the Ministry of Works. (2-3)
Published survey of earthworks (25", 1962) revised. (3)
The outline of the early promontory castle at Bolsover is still fairly clear and takes the form of a huge oval bailey with a small inner bailey. These early defences may have been of stone, but nothing of this is now visible, although early stonework was observed in the course of repairs in 1946 and 1978 in the forecourt of the central area. (4-6)
Bolsover Castle and its ancillary buildings is a Grade 1 group. (7)
Excavation in 1977 revealed the medieval curtain wall of the castle. (8)
Bolsover Castle, 11th century motte and bailey castle, twelfth century tower keep castle and seventeenth century country house. (9-11)
'First castle at Bolsover reputedly built by William Peveril, as a motte and bailey, the site given by William the Conqueror. In 1155 it became a royal castle and a keep was probably built 1173-1179. The forecourt of the present keep stands on the medieval foundations, the walls of the garden on the base of the 13th century inner bailey walls. In the 15th and 16th centuries it passed in and out of royal hands until granted to George Talbot, later Earl of Shrewsbury, husband of Bess of Hardwick in 1553. No trace of the medieval castle remains. The new keep was built 1612-1621 on the foundations of the old. The inner bailey became a garden and in the remainder of the 17th century the terrace range, the reception rooms and the riding school were built within the old outer bailey. The castle was donated by the Duke of Portland to the nation and is now a guardianship site.' (12)
£116 spent on Bolsover and the Peak Castles in 1173-1174 and small repairs to the tower in 1194-1216 (pipe rolls). £134 spent on Bolsover and Horston in 1208-1209. (13)
It is possible, by reference to the building accounts of houses, to locate the sources of stone as both great and small houses generally obtained their stone from within a three mile radius; often a quarry or quarries would be opened specifically to supply a building. The prominent buildings on the Permian scarp, Bolsover Castle and Hardwick Halls, obtained their stone from quarries opened specifically for the building work. The present Bolsover Castle, an extravagant adaptation of the site of a large medieval fortress by John Smythson (from 1613) for Sir Charles Cavendish, used quarries in Permian Lower Magnesian Limestone, hereabouts, a pinkish-cream fine-grained dolomite, from Bolsover and Bolsover Moor, and a Westphalian buff, fine-grained sandstone (below the Wales Coal) from Shuttlewood below the scarp. Bolsover Castle was the example of good weathering stone picked by the Commissioners for the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament. (14-15)
Extended inhumations have been found during tree-planting and pipe laying within the area of the old outer bailey. (16)
During the stripping off and disposing of old and weathered lead sheeting from the roof of Lodge 1 at Bolsover Castle, a number of graffiti markings were noticed. Several other markings were subsequently found on the two western lodges, 3 and 4, when these were renovated. Most of the markings were of the outlines of people's footware and the accompanying 19th century dates. The full and partial outlines of 172 shoes and boots, seven hands and 11 miscallanious drawings and initials were identified from Lodge 1. The footware impressions are almost variably a single foot, never a pair, where they varied in detail, some having markings to indicate nails or pegs, and a few indicated repair patches. (17)
In 1991 a watching brief suggested that the bank south of the Terrace Range, is of recent origin. (18)
From the National Heritage List for England:
'Reasons for Designation
A tower keep castle is a strongly fortified residence in which the keep is the principal defensive feature. The keep may be freestanding or surrounded by a defensive enclosure; they are normally square in shape, although other shapes are known. Internally they have several floors providing accommodation of various types. If the keep has an attached enclosure this will normally be defined by a defensive wall, frequently with an external ditch. Access into the enclosure was provided by a bridge across the ditch, allowing entry via a gatehouse. Additional buildings, including stabling for animals and workshops, may be found within the enclosure. Tower keep castles were built throughout the medieval period, from immediately after the Norman Conquest to the mid-15th century, with a peak in the middle of the 12th century. A few were constructed on the sites of earlier earthwork castle types but most were new creations. They provided strongly fortified residences for the king or leading families and occur in both urban or rural situations. Tower keep castles are widely dispersed throughout England with a major concentration on the Welsh border. They are rare nationally with only 104 recorded examples. Considerable diversity of form is exhibited with no two examples being exactly alike. With other castle types, they are major medieval monument types which, belonging to the highest levels of society, frequently acted as major administrative centres and formed the foci for developing settlement patterns. Castles generally provide an emotive and evocative link to the past and can provide a valuable educational resource, both with respect to medieval warfare and defence and with respect to wider aspects of medieval society. All examples retaining significant remains of medieval date are considered to be nationally important. Motte castles are medieval fortifications introduced into Britain by the Normans. They comprised a large conical mound of earth or rubble, the motte, surmounted by a palisade and a stone or timber tower. In a majority of examples an embanked enclosure containing additional buildings, the bailey, adjoined the motte. Motte castles and motte-and-bailey castles acted as garrison forts during offensive military operations, as strongholds, and, in many cases, as aristocratic residences and the centre of local or royal administration. Built in towns, villages and open countryside, motte castles generally occupied strategic positions dominating their immediate locality and as a result, are the most visually impressive monuments of the early post- Conquest period surviving in the modern landscape. Over 600 motte castles or motte-and-bailey castles are recorded nationally, with examples known from most regions. As such, and as one of a restricted range of recognised early post-Conquest monuments, they are particularly important for the study of Norman Britain and the development of the feudal system. Although many were occupier for only a short period of time, motte castles continued to be built and occupied from the 11th to the 13th centuries, after which they were superseded by other types of castle. Bolsover Castle is an important and well-documented example of a motte and bailey castle which developed into a tower keep castle and was later adapted to become a country house of one of the most important families of the seventeenth century. Although nothing of the medieval castles remains upstanding, twelfth and thirteenth century masonry is known to survive beneath the walls and buildings of the later house and extensive archaeological deposits, relating to both the motte and bailey castle and the tower keep castle, survive largely undisturbed across the whole of the site. The extensive standing remains of the seventeenth century house, and the wide range of surviving buildings, make it not only of great architectural importance but also one of the most visually impressive monuments of its class.
Details
Bolsover Castle is situated on a limestone promontory overlooking the town of Bolsover, which now almost encircles it. The monument comprises the site of the eleventh century motte and bailey castle, the site of the twelfth century tower keep castle and the standing remains of the seventeenth century country house that was built over it. The buildings and walls of the seventeenth century house were built largely on the remains of twelfth century masonry. The open areas of the inner and outer baileys, therefore, have been left largely undisturbed since the eleventh century and are believed to contain the buried remains of buildings and structures associated with all periods of the medieval castle's history. The motte and bailey castle took the form of a large oval outer bailey, measuring c.280m by 200m, with a smaller inner bailey, measuring c.80m by 60m, lying to the north at the highest point of the promontory. The inner bailey contained the keep while the outer bailey accommodated such ancillary buildings as stables, workshops and lodgings for retainers. The later medieval castle respected the layout of the earlier, and the square tower keep appears to have been built on the site of the original, though this has not yet been confirmed. The foundations of the twelfth century keep survive below the present `keep', known as the Little Castle, which was built between 1612 and 1621. At this time the inner bailey became a garden, known as the Fountain Garden, and original twelfth or thirteenth century masonry was noted during consolidation work on its walls in both 1946 and 1978. During the course of the seventeenth century, the terrace range, now ruined but containing the main state rooms and the Great Gallery, was built in the outer bailey or Great Court, along with the riding school and its forge. Four conduit or water houses, which supplied the seventeenth century castle with water, lie outside the castle walls and are not included in this scheduling. The first castle at Bolsover was the motte and bailey castle built in the eleventh century by William Peverel, bastard son of William the Conqueror. In 1155 it was taken by the Crown and the earlier stone keep built between 1173 and 1179, at about the same time as the curtain wall round the inner bailey. The medieval fortification had fallen into ruin by the end of the fourteenth century. Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it passed in and out of royal hands until granted to George Talbot, later Earl of Shrewsbury and husband of Bess of Hardwick, in 1553. Between 1608 and 1640, the castle was entirely rebuilt by Sir Charles Cavendish and his heir, the first Duke of Newcastle , the design being attributed to Robert and John Smithson. Newcastle was a prominent supporter of Charles I during the Civil War and, after a seige, the castle surrendered to Parliament in 1644 and was subsequently slighted. After the Restoration it gradually underwent repair but, by the mid eighteenth century, was stripped and in ruins, apart from the riding school and Little Castle. The seventh Duke of Portland granted it to the nation in 1945 since when it has been in State care. The castle is a Grade I Listed Building. There are a number of features to be excluded from the scheduling. The most important is the seventeenth century Little Castle which, being roofed and containing internal architectural and decorative features such as painted panelling, is better served by its Listed status rather than scheduling. The medieval foundations and the deposits underneath are, however, included in the scheduling. Other exclusions are the surfaces of paths and drives, all modern fencing and walling, modern gates, the ticket office and all English Heritage fittings such as railings, grilles and notices, the toilet block, the custodian's lodge and outhouses, the surface of the playground of Bolsover Church of England School, the sheds etc. within the English Heritage Works compound, the fittings of the Bolsover Castle Bowling Club and the surface of the bowling green itself. The ground beneath all these exclusions is, however, included.
MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
13270
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Faulkner, PA, Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire, (1972)
Hart, CR, North Derbyshire Archaeological Survey, (1984), 148
Pevsner, N, Williamson, E, The Buildings of England: Derbyshire, (1978), 92-94
Renn, D F, Norman Castles in Britain, (1968)
Currey, P H, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in Bolsover Castle, , Vol. XXXVIII, (1916), 1-28
Other
Hart, C R, Bolsover: The Archaeological Implications Of Development, 1977, N D A C Pamphlet.'
(19)
Sources/Archives (19)
- <1> SDR6968 Article in serial: Gregory, F. 1948. 'Bolsover Castle. A review of the 17th century buildings', Transactions of the Thoroton Society. Volume 51, p 4ff. 1ff, plans, illus.
- <2> SDR190 Bibliographic reference: Pevsner, N. 1953. The Buildings of England: Derbyshire, 1st edition. 62-65.
- <3> SDR6326 Personal Observation: F1 FRH 24-NOV-65.
- <4> SDR5335 Bibliographic reference: Faulkner, P. 1972. Bolsover Castle.
- <5> SDR10777 Bibliographic reference: Hart, C (NDAT). 1981. The North Derbyshire Archaeological Survey to AD 1500. 139, 145.
- <6> SDR7169 Bibliographic reference: Colvin, H. 1963. History of the King's Works. Vol. 2. 572-573.
- <7> SDR5100 Bibliographic reference: Department of the Environment. 1961. Bolsover, Derbyshire, November 1961.
- <8> SDR9000 Article in serial: Medieval Archaeology. 1978. Medieval Archaeology, 22.
- <9> SDR4628 Bibliographic reference: Beswick, P. 1978. Derbyshire Origins. 40-42.
- <10> SDR5923 Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1992. Scheduling Notification - Bolsover Castle.
- <11> SDR11047 Index: North Derbyshire Archaeological Trust (NDAT). North Derbyshire Archaeological Trust Index: 1624. 1624.
- <12> SDR4322 Bibliographic reference: Currey, P. 1916. 'Bolsover Castle', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal. Vol. 38, pp 1-28, illust..
- <13> SDR13496 Bibliographic reference: Renn, D. 1968. Norman Castles in Britain.
- <14> SDR23342 Bibliographic reference: Stanley, M. 1990. Carved in bright stone: sources of building stone in Derbyshire.
- <15> SDR11457 Index: North Derbyshire Archaeological Trust (NDAT). North Derbyshire Archaeological Trust Index: 3521. 3521.
- <16> SDR4614 Bibliographic reference: Derbyshire County Council. Sites and Monuments Record Background File: Matlock.
- <17> SDR23616 Article in serial: Sheppard, R (TPAT). 1998. 'Footware outlines at Bolsover Castle', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal.
- <18> SDR24574 Unpublished document: Challis, K and R Sheppard. 1991. Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire: Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief on Groundworks at the South End of Terrace Range.
- <19> SDR19551 Listed Building File: Historic England. 2011. The National Heritage List for England. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1012496?section=official-list-entry.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred SK 47093 70634 (274m by 320m) |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | OLD BOLSOVER, BOLSOVER, DERBYSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (25)
- EDR3562
- EDR3468
- EDR3469
- EDR3523
- EDR3561
- EDR3637
- EDR3453
- EDR3560
- EDR3454
- EDR3451
- EDR3455
- EDR3452
- EDR5031
- EDR3839
- EDR3564
- EDR3639
- EDR3640
- EDR1856
- EDR3602
- EDR3722
- EDR3713
- EDR3638
- EDR3636
- EDR3395
- EDR3565
Please contact the HER for details.
External Links (0)
Record last edited
Feb 17 2025 3:45PM