Hertford Castle - Castles on Waymarking.com

Long Description:
It is unknown when the first castle was constructed at Hertford, although it was built by the Normans and grew up from two burhs (fortified places) established by Edward The Elder around 911. By the time of the Norman Invasion in 1066, Hertford had a motte and bailey surrounded by a moat. This consisted of large earthen mound with a strong wooden tower or keep on top.

William The Conqueror granted the castle to Peter de Valoignes - one of his followers and the Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Essex. Under the Normans, the character of the castle changed as the old Saxon burh - constructed primarily for the protection of the people - was replaced by a stronghold for the nobility that might well be used against the people.

In 1170 Henry II enlarged and strengthened the motte and bailey castle in line with military fashion at the time. It became a vital part of the ring of outer defence of London along with Windsor, Berkhamstead, Stortford and Rayleigh.

The improvements were completed by 1173. The cost of improvements and repairs were continuous entries in the records of the castle from this date until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It remained a royal castle although leased to loyal subjects and every monarch had at one time stayed there.

Richard I was too occupied with the crusades to worry much about Hertford but King John appointed Walter de Godorvil as governor who set about garrisoning the castle and strengthening the fortifications and outer walls. This was a time of civil unrest and Louis of France under invitation from English barons was attacking parts of John’s kingdom.

When Henry III succeeded John the barons turned on Louis but he continued his campaign and laid siege to Hertford castle on 11 November 1216. Walter de Godorvil put up a valiant battle and prevented the French from undermining the walls. The siege ended after almost three weeks on 6 December when Godorvil was forced to surrender. By 1217 Louis’ case was lost when he was defeated at Lincoln and he left the country.

Even by the middle of the fourteenth century castles had stopped being effective for defensive purposes and many lords, nobles and kings destroyed them to make themselves a palace with newly-acquired stone and land. When Henry VIII acceded to the throne he had a similar ambition for the royal palaces and Hertford was included in this.

A new gatehouse was built on the foundations of the old one using larger bricks that had come into fashion by the 1530’s. Elizabeth I was the last monarch to live at Hertford Castle and its usage in future centuries was as a private house following the sale by Charles I to William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury in 1628.

By that time there was little left of the original castle and buildings for in a survey commissioned in 1609 found a gatehouse, a brick tower, old walls and three old houses.

In 1789 the Marquess of Downshire attempted to continue the castle’s transformation into a mansion. He blew up the two wings of the gatehouse with dynamite as traditional means of demolition failed. The alterations left the gatehouse almost as it appears today with a new south wing and the moat filled in.

It was leased to the East India Company and then Haileybury College in the early nineteenth century but in 1911 James Edward Hubert Gascoyne Cecil, 4th Marquess of Salisbury leased it to the town for a peppercorn rent to be used as municipal offices and a public garden.

Source ("http://www.johnbarber.com/tunnels/castle.html" target="_blank">visit link)

Accessibility: Full access Condition: Completely ruined Admission Charge?: no Website: Not listed

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