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HALTON CASTLE

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The ruined castle remains at Halton which stands on a prominent hill of red sandstone and overlooks the estuary of the River Mersey to the north and east. The first castle on the site was a motte and bailey timber castle built by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, in circa 1070. This was formed by cutting off the highest part of the promontory on the north western side by a ditch 8 metres wide and utilising the natural platform on the rest of the hilltop as a bailey. The castle was occupied by Nigel, the first baron of Halton. In the subsequent three centuries the phases of building and rebuilding in stone are obscured since all rebuilding took place after scraping the previous phase off the bedrock and rebuilding on that foundation. By circa 1250 the curtain wall had been built, together with a square tower on the west side, a round tower at the north end, and stone buildings in a range along the north western side. During this period, from the 11th to the 13th centuries, the ownership passed to the Lacy family, the Lords of Pontefract, who became Dukes of Lancaster in 1311. In the 15th century a gatehouse was constructed. The castle was used as a prison for Roman Catholic recusants in 1579. It was besieged and captured by Sir William Brereton in 1643 and partly demolished on Cromwell's orders in 1644. In 1738 the gatehouse was replaced by a new courthouse and prison and a series of small lock-ups built in the castle interior.

Nothing remains of the early timber castle phase of the buildings and the ditch of the early motte site was filled in the 13th century. The curtain wall only survives as foundations. The stone tower dates from the 13th century and measures 12 metres square at the base. Next to this are the foundations of the kitchen range. In circa 1800 the walls of a folly were constructed to the east of the courthouse where they still form a castellated feature.

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[SJ 53768202] Halton Castle [G.T.] (Remains of) (1)

Halton Castle was not mentioned in the Domesday Survey but it was probably built shortly afterwards. '...[it] was appointed by Queen Elizabeth (in 1579) to be a prison for ... detaining recusants'... (2)

The Duke of Lancaster who succeeded to the 'Barony of Halton' in 1345'... claimed the right to have his castle of HALTON crenellated and embattled, together with a castle ward and a prison ......"... John of Gaunt, as 14th baron... seems to have built here..." In 1644, during the Civil War it was taken by the Parliamentary Forces "[and] shortly afterwards the castle was dismantled and turned to a ruin." (3)

Examination of the remains of Halton Castle indicated (a) That some masonry had formed part of a Norman building. (b) evidence of C14th rebuilding and re-facing. (c) that the bulk of the remains were of C15th date. (4)

[At 'A' SJ 53788204] Late Celtic coin. (5)(5a)

"Mr. C. Roach Smith informs me that he has seen a MS note of a coin of this type having been found at Houghton [sic] Castle, Runcorn, Cheshire, in 1795. I have no note of any other ancient British coins having been found in that county. "Evans type XVII: 1 [Allen: Belgic Dynastics, Arch. XC (1944) 41] A stater of the Brigancies, insr. 1OS/DVMNOCOVEROS.
[There is no "Houghton" Castle near Runcorn: Evans does in fact mention a coin, of type XIII: II, AE inscr
- A -, as found" in Cheshire" (p.574)] (6)

Scheduled as Ancient Monument. Halton Castle. (7)

Mainly historical. (8)

Refers to Proc L & C H S Sects III 1850-1 (9)

Notes (10)

Mainly historical (11)

Mention of a survey temp. Cromwell (8-12) (12)

Halton Castle is situated 325 ft. above sea level in a commanding position and covering a wide prospect in all directions. It is constructed of red sandstone and erected on living rock, in places the rock forming an integral part of the defences. Extant remains consist of a shell keep with internal domestic buildings, curtain walling (including two towers) surrounding the bailey, and an inner gateway. All present crenellations are modern and the whole has been restored at various periods - in some instances entire stretches of wall having been rebuilt. Apart from modern restoration, blocked slit windows and a blocked sally-port - the blocking contemporary with the curtaining - indicate improvements or modifications whilst the castle was still in use as such. Window tracery within the keep and in one of the former wall towers is of the Decorated period - some Perpendicular work is also visible. At no point could identifiable remains of Norman building be noted (Authority 4 refers) The standing remains are considerable and generally in a good condition, they vary in height from ground level to a max of approx. 8.0m. Please see GPS AO/59/30/4 - 8, AO/59/230/2 - 7
Ref. authorities 5 and 6. The location of the Brigantian coin has not been ascertained. A notice board indicates the castle to be the property of the Duchy of Lancaster.
AM survey completed. (13)

As described in 13. Published 1/1250 survey 1962-3 checked and found correct. (14)

Ruinous castle built c.1070. A few high standing walls contain the remains of windows with tracery suggesting a late medieval alteration. High standing remains within the south east area of the walls were built about 1800 to make the castle an eye-catcher from Norton Priory. Scheduled. Listed Grade I. (15-16)

A programme of excavation, survey and documentary research carried out between 1986 and 1987. The earliest recognisable archaeological occupation probably dates to the 12th century, when the bedrock was scraped to form a circular plug, possibly for a stone shell heap, and a massive ditch was backfilled to accommodate a rectangular tower at its north end, whose base was constructed of ashlar blocks with pilaster buttresses. A number of cellared buildings were built around a courtyard in the inner bailey curtain. 15th century refurbishments included the addition of twin polygonal gate towers (since demolished). The rectangular tower became the solar for the baron's chambers and a garderobe was built into the renovated courtyard buildings. (17)

Full report. (18)

Additional references. (19-21)

Listed by Cathcart King and Colvin. During the Tudor period the castle was largely maintained only to store the Duchy's archives, and court rolls, although the kitchen tower was rebuilt from 1532-6. However, it still retained some military value because it changed hands twice during the Civil War. In 1643, the chapel, which stood without the wall, was entirely destroyed by the besieging forces of Sir William Brereton. (22-23)

The monument is visible as an extant structure on air photographs examined as part of the North West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment. (24)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1905 38

( 2) A History of Cheshire [series]

1 (1982) Page(s)710

( 3) Paul Johnson 1989 Castles of England, Scotland and Wales

II (1897) Page(s)173-175

( 4) Journal of the British Archaeological Association

1888 Page(s)199-201

( 5) Annotated Record Map

Correspondents Annotated 6" Sheet (G Webster 1950)

(5a) General reference

Shone. Prehistoric Cheshire Page(s)85

( 6) General reference

Evans J. 1890. Ancient Britain Coins (Supplement) Page(s)590

( 7) General reference

Ministry of Works. 1957. List of Ancient Monuments in England and Wales

( 8) Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society

2 (1864) Page(s)1-20

( 9) Journal of the Chester and North Wales Architectural Archaeological and Historic Society

1885 Page(s)296-297

(10) Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society

8 (1890) Page(s)168-169

(11) General reference

Beaumont W. 1873. History of the Castle of Halton

(12) General reference

Hanshall JH. 1817. History of the Palatine County of Cheshire Page(s)414-415

(13) Field Investigators Comments

F1 FDC 08-JUL-1959

(14) Field Investigators Comments

F2 JHW 29-JAN-1964

(15) by Department of the Environment, Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings London 1978 List of ancient monuments in England: Volume 1, Northern England; Volume 2, Southern England; Volume 3, East Anglia and the Midlands

3 Page(s)21

(16) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

Halton October 1983 36 Page(s)9

(17) Medieval archaeology : journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology

32 (1988) Page(s)234-235

(18) edited by Robina McNeil and A J Jamieson 1987 Halton Castle : 'a visual treasure'

North West Archaeol Trust Rep 1

(19) Scheduled Monument Notification

22-JUL-1997

(20) by Patricia Borne, Philip Dixon 1978 Halton Castle reconsidered

Archaeologia Aeliana : or miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquityThird series vol 1(1904)- 21(1924)

(21) by David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery

1 Page(s)67

(22) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)667

(23) by H M Colvin, D R Ransome and John Summerson 1975 The history of the King's Works, volume 3 : 1485-1660 (part 1)

Page(s)252

(24) Vertical aerial photograph reference number

RAF 106G/UK/622 4051 10-AUG-1945

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