England – Castle Studies Trust Blog

Investigating the Twelfth-Century Entranceway of Durham Castle

Dr Andrew Ferrara of Durham University, and project co-lead for investigating the Romanesque entrance looks at what they are doing and also hoping to learn from this detailed study of this spectacular doorway.

Durham Castle is one of the most prominent and renowned twelfth-century episcopal castles in Britain, sitting in the wider Durham UNESCO World Heritage site along with the cathedral. Construction is recorded as beginning in 1072, and the site has been in continuous occupation ever since. It operated as one of the bishop’s principal residences, right up until the nineteenth century when it was given to Durham University. As such, the complex has undergone multiple changes and alterations through the centuries, including significant interior and exterior works in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with many of the medieval structures enclosed or adjusted by later development. Amongst the most significant building phases was the work undertaken during the episcopate of Bishop Hugh de Le Puiset (1153-95) and one of the most dynamic features from that period is the grand archway entrance inserted into the south façade of the castle’s North Range. Despite its longevity and pedigree, the castle has received surprisingly limited investigation or scholarly attention over the past century.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

The current project, made possible through generous funding by the Castle Studies Trust, and led by Dr Andrew Ferrara and Professor Giles Gasper, is undertaking non-destructive photogrammetry of the Le Puiset archway. This methodology will result in a highly-detailed 3D model of the structure, ideal for detailed remote study. The same 3D data can then be used to generate orthographic projections, functioning as highly accurate blueprints of the arch. In addition, targeted high-resolution photography of details and additional 3D laser scans of the capitals will be undertaken. These combined methods will result in the most detailed and state-of-the-art records of this part of the castle for wider research and dissemination.

Durham Castle: Door scanning in action, copyright Dr Andrew Ferrara

This research focus has emerged from a renewed interest in the castle complex, catalysed by recent conservation and refurbishment works around the site which have revealed previously unknown architectural features. While the archway is exceptionally elaborate, it has never been subject to in-depth examination and set within the wider context of both Romanesque sculpture and the understanding of Durham Castle. The detailed modelling will allow for a thorough inspection of the features to be undertaken, in particular of diagnostic sculpture elements, enabling thorough comparison with other contemporary architectural outputs across the region and country. It is hoped that this will help tighten the chronology of the archway and set it in the context of other building projects undertaken by Bishop Le Puiset and other elite patrons. This will then further help inform understanding of the movement and concurrent projects of different master masons, and the sharing of architectural templates between secular and ecclesiastical sites and patrons in that milieu.

The project will also examine how the archway would have operated with the wider complex, to enable or restrict access and movement between the courtyard and internal spaces. This is crucial for better understanding the layout of the castle site in the late twelfth century, and how it would have looked and operated as the bishop’s See seat and one of the core centres of his palatine administration. The project will also explore the Durham archway within the context of ceremonial and embellished entranceways at contemporary castle structures like Newcastle, helping to understand where Le Puiset’s sponsored work sits within the wider corpus of elite buildings across the region.

All of this should result in a better comprehension of the layout and operation of the Durham castle in the late-twelfth century, and also of how this archway feature compares with other contemporary and preceding royal and local castle sites.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Looking ahead to excavations at Knepp

Ahead of the fieldwork beginning at Knepp Castle on 20 April, we hear from Dr Richard Nevell, the project lead about the project and what it aims to accomplish.

Ensconced in the countryside of West Sussex, Knepp is perhaps best known as a rewilding project – the first of its kind in England. At the eastern edge of the Knepp estate are the enigmatic remains of a tower. The 11m high wall stands on top of a mound just north of the River Adur, and immediately west of the A24 road. This is what remains above ground of Knepp Castle, and the Castle Studies Trust have awarded a grant to partially excavate the site and better understand what lies beneath the surface.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

It is uncertain when Knepp Castle was established. It was likely founded by the powerful Braose family who held the land. The earliest mention of the castle dates to 1210 by which point it was under royal control as King John had confiscated the Braose family’s lands and property. John happily used Knepp as a hunting lodge, visiting to make use of the local deer park. The turmoil of his reign reached Knepp and on two occasions John ordered the destruction of Kneppp to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Despite this the castle persisted and hosted royal visits from Henry III, Edward II, and Richard II. By the 1720s, most of the medieval castle had been dismantled leaving the lone wall that remains which was likely part of a keep (also known as a great tower).

The keep seen from the east

On 20 April Chris Butler Archaeological Services will begin a community excavation at Knepp Castle, and finish on 29 April. The work involves opening a trench just west of the standing wall, cutting across a feature identified in previous geophysical surveys. The castle is a scheduled monument and legally protected from unauthorised change, so any excavation has to be carefully planned to enhance the understanding of the site while preserving the remains.

The geophysical surveys carried out in 2021 and 2022 showed that there are considerable remains buried at Knepp particularly west and south-west of the standing wall. Part of the challenge with this excavation has been deciding which of these features to investigate. Should we work on what could be a curtain wall marking the edge of the castle, a rectangular shape to the south that could be the trace of a gatehouse, or some of the anomalies on the south slope? In the end we decided to examine a sharp edged feature west of the keep. It looks like it could be a building, but it is on a different alignment to the keep and partly overlaps it. That means it may be an earlier phase of the castle.

The results of the 2021 and 2022 geophysical surveys. Green indicates features identified through a magnetometer survey, and blue those found with ground-penetrating radar. The standing wall is roughly in the middle, and outlined by a red dashed box.

The remains are not immediately obviously castle-like. During the geophysical surveys passing members of the public asked what the site was. The motte is not as pronounced as at other castles, and the wall looks old without necessarily looking like a castle. By excavating at Knepp we hope to better understand how the site developed. The documentary sources give some hints of events, but little information on what was built when. Personally, I hope that we might find some evidence of the destruction of 1216 following King John’s orders, but that’s unlikely.

Though the geophysical evidence is strong, we can’t be certain about the archaeology until we start digging. What has been especially encouraging is how enthusiastic local communities have been to learn about Knepp’s medieval history and get involved with the fieldwork.

Here’s hoping to some exciting finds from Knepp Castle later this month!

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Cockermouth Castle – Building Survey Diary Stage 1 – Update

Following his and his team’s first visit to survey the inner ward of Cockermouth Castle Tom Addyman looks at what they have found so far.

The initial stages of survey were carried out at Cockermouth Castle, within the inner ward area. Adverse weather held off until gales forced an early retreat on the third day. In spite of that excellent survey coverage was achieved, principally establishing a survey control and data capture for photogrammetry. Great assistance was given by the estate in reduction of obscuring vegetation that revealing a number of areas that were long-obscured, and through the provision of high-level access. The initial survey stage also included a general photographic record and preliminary fabric analysis such as the image below of the hall range frontage – sketch plan.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Cockermouth Castle high level access, inner ward gatehouse, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Cockermouth Castle hall range frontage – sketch plan, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Initial processing of the imagery worked well leading, as intended, to the generation of dimensionally accurate projections to be used as a basis for a survey drawing set. In purely visual terms some striking individual images emerged, such as a vertical projection of the vaulted ceiling structure of the cellarage beneath the kitchen tower and elevation views within the kitchen interior.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Cockermouth Castle vertical projection showing vaulting configuration of lower level of the kitchen tower, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Cockermouth Castle north interior of the kitchen tower showing remains of former gallery arrangements, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Better access to the fabric allowed better understanding of the evidence for the evolving hall range arrangements (hall entrance and junction with the kitchen range and general view of hall range, north wall. Examination of the surviving footings of the hall range’s courtyard frontage led to a preliminary reconstruction of its former appearance (image – preliminary sketch reconstruction of hall range frontage).

Cockermouth Castle great hall entrance and junction with the kitchen range, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Cockermouth Castle general view of hall range, north wall, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Cockermouth Castle preliminary sketch reconstruction of hall range frontage, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Once image processing is complete a follow on survey trip will involve detailed marking up of the imagery with phasing data and other analytical information. There will also be a review of early records of the castle with the estate archivist and volunteer team.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Ellesmere Castle – Revealing the Secrets of a Major Castle of the Welsh Marches

Ellesmere Castle in Shropshire is a substantial motte and bailey castle in the Welsh Marches that played an important role in the history of the area. However, very little is known about its form and structure with no standing remains above ground, or indeed when it was first constructed.

Starting on Monday 23 March, on behalf of the owners of the motte, Ellesmere Bowling Club, and with the support of owners of the rest of the castle Shropshire Council and funded by the Castle Studies Trust, archaeologists from the heritage organisation Heneb will be undertaking a programme of geophysical survey at the castle to assess the potential for surviving sub‑surface archaeological remains. The methods being used include magnetic gradiometry and electrical resistivity survey.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Ellesmere motte top, showing size as an shape of possible structure shown by GPR survey

The motte itself is substantial. It is approximately 80m in diameter at its base, 52m across the top and stands about 11m high. A steep-sided ditch, about 20m wide and 3m deep, separates the motte from the bailey to the south east. In 2024, a partial and informal Ground Penetrating Radar GPR survey was carried out, which suggested and indicated a substantial structure, probably indicating a stone structure with the dimensions of 23m x 14m.

Lidar image of Ellesmere Castle including areas of geophysical survey

This current survey builds on the work carried out in 2024. It will be covering four areas of this very large castle site. The LiDAR image below shows the four targeted areas for geophysical survey:

Motte: to pinpoint the position of the curtain wall along with any other buildings within.
Bailey: to determine the location and size of the buildings.
Area three, to establish where the outer defensive wall once stood that came down from the top of the motte, and to understand the width and depth of the defensive ditch, along with deciphering the extent of the bailey (No2), part of which had been quarried away sometime in the past.
Earthworks which are believed to be the outer defensive walls, showing what appears to be an entrance in the north east section, and to investigate the furthest easterly earthworks to determine whether there was both an inner and outer bailey.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

The date of construction is unknown: it could have been built as early as the late eleventh century, by marcher lord Roger de Montgomery. The lands were confiscated by the crown following his son Robert de Bellesme’s rebellion. The castle was certainly in existence by 1138. In 1174 Henry II confirmed the manor to Dafydd ab Owain, a north Welsh prince, when he married Henry’s sister Emma in 1174. During the early to middle part of the 13th century the manor of Ellesmere passed in and out of royal control and throughout much of that century there are numerous accounts of building or repair works especially during the reign of Henry III.

Ellesmere Castle bailey with motte in the background, copyright Gary Bick

In 1241 John le Strange was paid forty pounds to build a castle also in the same year twenty one pounds was spent on building two bretasches. In 1256, the King’s house within castle was repaired at a cost of five pounds ten shillings and nine with a further one hundred and sixteen pounds being spent on castle repairs further emphasising the castle’s significance.

In historical terms, perhaps its most well-known claim to fame is that Joan, daughter of King John and wife of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, was confined to the castle for about a year following her infidelity.

While the survey will not answer questions on its history, it will hopefully supply more details on the castle’s form, and potential targets for future excavation so we can learn more about its history.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Cockermouth Castle: a major baronial fortress of which we know little

Tom Addyman of Addyman Archaeology looks ahead to the first modern detailed study of Cockermouth Castle, a major baronial castle near the Scottish border which is starting this week.

With the generous support awarded by the Castle Studies Trust new survey work is to commence this week at Cockermouth Castle. Located in the extreme west of the historic county of Cumberland, Cockermouth is the caput of a major early landholding, the barony of Allerdale and Honour of Cockermouth. The castle is an extensively surviving baronial fortress that occupies a strong defensive site, a high spur of land at the confluence of the Rivers Derwent to the north and Cocker to the south and overlooking the medieval town extending to the south-east.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Outer Gatehouse of Cockermouth Castle looking North West, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Roughly triangular in plan, the complex’s major walls and defensive towers essentially survive intact, comprising a small inner ward at the point of the promontory and a larger outer ward facing level ground to the east, defended by a ditch, now infilled. The outer ward is accessed by a massively constructed gatehouse at the north angle of the east side. The gatehouse and later ranges built against the north, east and south perimeter walls of the enclosure are still in occupation. The now-ruinous inner ward, containing the principal domestic apartments, had been accessed by means of a second major gatehouse to the centre of its east side.

Cockermouth Castle gatehouse to the inner ward facing south west, copyright Addyman Archaeology

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Following recent appraisal during the 2024 Chateau Gaillard conference there was considerable consensus as to both the importance of the site and its surviving architecture and in recognizing that its fabric has seen little study and was very notably lacking a reliable evidence-based analysis. It seems the most up-to-date published plan of the site is that of 1910 by John Curwen who also provided an account of the castle’s evolution. The only subsequent in-depth study that relates the detailed analysis of the physical development of the site to its ownership history is that of JB Bradbury (Bradbury’s History of Cockermouth, 1996); however this now requires comprehensive revision through scholarly review of the physical evidence. Other accounts, by Lord Leconfield (1959) and Pevsner, as revised by Hyde (2010), are more summary in nature. The understanding of the castle and its history has most recently been assessed by Dr Edward Impey in a draft paper (July 2024) that provides a firm basis upon which the more detailed assessment of the site will be built and its interpretation re-considered.

Cockermouth Castle inner ward with all and chamber block and the kitchen tower on the far left. copyright Addyman Archaeology

Led by a team from Addyman Archaeology, the project will focus upon developing a detailed understanding of the physical fabric of the structurally complex inner ward area. The major building periods will be defined and related to the site’s known history and occupancy, to early illustrative material, and in terms of the broader evolution of castle architecture. Particular focus will be the massive redevelopment of the site in the 14th century under the de Lucy and Percy families. Incorporating parts of a pre-existing masonry curtain, these works included the creation of chamber, hall and service arrangements, the magnificent kitchen tower (reminiscent of the work of Master John Lewyn), and the inner ward’s idiosyncratic gatehouse, a structure of defensive appearance though of limited capability and without close parallel. Together the gatehouse and the domestic ranges to either side occupy the site of an earlier defensive ditch; these structures present a specific interpretative challenge in that they incorporate the remains of vaulted cellarage of a predecessor range that may never have been completed.

Cockermouth Castle Kitchen Tower looking North West, copyright Addyman Archaeology

The present project prioritises the establishment of new base-line survey information. As far as existing vegetation and safe access permits the structures of the inner ward will be subject to a close and systematic visual assessment and non-invasive survey to be carried out primarily through photogrammetry. The latter will lead to the development of a record drawing set that will be overlain with comprehensive analytical and phasing data. The study will include a detailed component-by-component analysis and description, and a narrative account of the visible stratigraphic evidence. Working with the estate archivist and a local historical group the project will also involve scoping of historical materials relevant to the understanding of the castle fabric. The project will lead to the development of research questions and a possible scope of works for ongoing study of the site.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Tree-ring dating and 3D imaging the original roofs of Sudeley Castle’s Outer Courtyard Ranges

Project lead Dr Andy Moir (Chairman of the Gloucestershire Building Recording Group) takes a look at the project to see if we need to re-evaluate our existing understanding of the building history of Sudeley Castle.

Sudeley Castle is a grade I listed building (Historic England List No: 1154791). Although the castle has origins as a Saxon house, its history really began with Ralph Boteler who in 1441 became the Lord Admiral, and then Baron Sudeley and Lord Chamberlin of the Kings Household. Ralph Boteler set about buildings a castle to reflect his new found status and is reputed to have built the Portmare Tower, the Dungeon Tower, the banqueting Hall, and the Tithe barn. In 1547 Thomas Seymour married King Henry VIII widow Katherin Parr (who’s tomb is at the castle) and set about the refurbishment of the estate. Historical documents record that stonemasons and carpenters built a complete new suite of apartments. Queen Mary granted the castle to Sir John Brydges in 1554 creating him Lord Chandos and later the third Lord Chandos entertained Queen Elizabeth I three times at Sudeley.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

The castle was bombarded by cannon in 1644 during the Civil War and ordered ‘slighted’ (which is stated to have included the removal of the roofs) in 1649. After this the castle was left in ruins for the next 180 years and then extensively restored in the 19^th century.

Figure 1: Outer Courtyard Ranges of Sudeley Castle, copyright Dr Andy Moir

Due to the slighting previously little of the earlier builds at Sudeley were thought to survive. However, in November 2025 the Outer Courtyard of Sudeley Castle was visited by the Gloucestershire Building Recording Group (GBRG) and a brief visual survey of the west, north and east range roofs undertaken (Figure 1). Some of stylistic features of timbers that survive in the roofs are useful to estimating their date of contraction, because date ranges of similar features have been identified in through the GBRG’s previous tree-ring dated projects on buildings in Gloucestershire. For instance, the use of queen struts (Figure 2) in the castle roofs are rarely used before the 1440s, and the use of clasped purlins are generally restricted to between the 1380s and 1500s. Diminished principal are present and these are rarely used before the 1440s and to date no examples have been found after the 1550s. Similarly the use of curved wind braces are typically restricted to before the 1570s, after which straight wind braces become more common used. Also in terms of carpentry, 80º saw marks are usually a reliable indicator that the timbers were pit-sawn, which generally comes into use from the 1540s. Overall, the stylistic features recorded suggest that the West and North Range roofs were likely constructed in the first half of the 16th century, some time between the 1500s and 1550s. This evidence suggests that the West and North ranges may be part of the new suite of apartments built by Thomas Seymour around 1547. However, precise dating of the timbers would be required to resolve this issue.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Figure 2: East range raking queen strut truss constructed using oak timbers, copyright Dr Andy Moir

Figure 3: A core taken for tree-ring dating (top) and a pencil (bottom), copyright Dr Andy Moir

Through the taking of small pencil like cores from timbers (Figure 3), tree-ring analysis can often identify an exact year of felling of the timbers used in construction of a building. Most medieval woodworkers use green wood (as seasoned wood is much more difficult to work with) and so a year of felling is generally accepted to identify the year of construction. During the recording of the roof at Sudeley Castle the timbers were also assessed for their potential use in tree-ring dating. Oak timbers with more than 50 rings, traces of sapwood or bark, and accessibility were the main considerations. The oak timbers in the roofs of all three ranges contain sufficient rings and bark to indicate tree-ring dating would likely produced precise felling dates and so significantly advance the understanding of the development of Sudeley Castle. Thanks to funding from the Castle Studies Trust the roof will be recorded and samples for tree-ring dating taken near the end of February 2026 and the results of this project available near the end of March 2026. The GBRG would like to express their thanks to Lady Ashcombe for kindly granting access to Sudeley Castle for this project.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Castle Studies Trust 2026 Grant Awards

The Castle Studies Trust is delighted to announce the award of eight grants, totalling a record £44,500, to a wide range of projects involving a wide variety of research methods. This total means that, since our foundation, we will have given nearly £350,000 to castle research projects – a landmark to celebrate.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Cockermouth Kitchen Tower and Great Hall Range from river, copyright Richard Oram

Cockermouth, Cumbria: Cockermouth Castle is an extensively surviving major multi-phase northern fortress whose evolutionary history has never been subject to systematic or formal assessment. The building survey will focus upon developing a detailed understanding of the physical fabric of the castle’s inner ward structures with a view to mapping their evolution, and to provide contextualization by relating the major building periods to the site’s known history and occupancy, and in terms of the broader evolution of castle architecture. The survey will be carried out by Tom Addyman with the support of Edward Impey and Richard Oram.

Durham Castle’s twelfth century entrance way, copyright Dr Andrew Ferrara

Durham Castle, County Durham: Investigating the Twelfth-Century Entranceway of Durham Castle. The aim of the project is to utilise digital archaeological techniques to create high-resolution images and models of the twelfth-century archway into Durham Castle’s North Range, enabling detailed investigation of the architectural features. The Durham University team carrying out the work will be led by Andrew Ferrara and Giles Gasper.

Ellesmere Castle from the air, copyright Joe Bickerton

Ellesmere, Shropshire: Geophysical survey of the large motte and bailey castle in Shropshire which, prior to June 2024, had never been surveyed before when the large motte was surveyed by GPR which revealed possible buildings. The resistivity and magnetometry surveys would confirm that, as well as extend the survey to the rest of the site which played an active part in the Marcher disputes in the reign of Henry III. The survey, carried out by Heneb, will take place in the week starting 9 March, with the results ready in the early summer.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Fyvie Castle, copyright National Trust of Scotland

Fyvie, Aberdeenshire: The project aims to create new interpretation drawings to showcase key stages in the architectural development of the castle, which dates to the thirteenth century, and share these as part of outreach and engagement. The drawings by Jan Dunbar will be commissioned by Annie Robertson of the National Trust and are expected to start in April.

Kilkenny Castle, copyright of the Discovery Programme

Kilkenny, Leinster, Republic of Ireland: This project proposes the use of geophysical survey to locate and map the lost Flemingstown of Kilkenny Castle – a unique example of a purpose-built Flemish colonial suburb. While some of the outer ward has already been investigated, the one area missing has been around the site of the township’s tower. The geophysical survey will be carried out by The Discovery Programme and will take place in early to mid March, led by David Stone with the support of Susan Currant and Coilin O Drisceoil.

Newcastle Keep, copyright Peter Purton

Newcastle, Northumberland: To co-fund the publication of the report of the excavations of Newcastle Castle, one of the major royal castles in the North East of England, which took place over 20 years between 1974-95. The funds will be for synthesising all the different excavations, updating specialist reports and preparing relevant reports. We are only part funding £2,000 of the £8,000 asked for, as we lacked the means to fund any more. . The grant from the CST will allow him to commission the illustration work for the building interpretation and the excavation illustrations. The part funding has also spurred on other funders to cover the remaining part of the grant. The project will be led by Don O’Meara of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle with the support of John Nolan and Richard Pears.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Ruthin Castle great gatehouse, copyright Ruthin Castle Preservation Trust

Ruthin, Denbighshire: Co-funding a structural survey and analysis of the great gatehouse of this formidable thirteenth century baronial castle that was a key part of Edward I’s strategy to secure the conquest of Wales. The project is led by Fiona Gale, chair of the Ruthin Castle Preservation Trust who will commission Mann Williams to do the survey with add context provided by Will Davies from Cadw.

Sudeley Castle outer courtyard, copyright Andy Moir

Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire: Tree-ring dating and recording with 3D imaging the original roofs of Sudeley Castles Outer Courtyard Ranges. The castle site dates to the anarchy but the castle was rebuilt in the fifteenth century by Lord Sudeley. The sampling and photography will take place on 25 and 26 February. The project will be led by Andy Moir of the Gloucestershire Building Recording Group.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Dutch Transcription and Translation December 2025 Update: Interpreting SP9/99

In their latest update Drs Paul Pattinson and Esther van Raamsdonk look at how far they have progressed with the transcription and translation of the Seventeenth Century survey of fortifications in southern England, revealing some pleasant surprises that have awaited them.

In our last update on Transcribing and Translating SP9/99: A Seventeenth-Century Dutch Survey of 22 English Castles and Fortifications, we concentrated on just that, the challenging process of transcription and translation of a difficult Dutch manuscript that uses unorthodox words (whose meaning is sometimes unknown), a note-like format, and a complete lack of punctuation. That process is now essentially complete, bar a few words that may be technical terms, and about which we are consulting with fortification experts in the Netherlands. However, we can now begin to interpret the manuscript and what it can tell us about the coastal artillery castles and bulwarks along the south-east and south coasts of England in the early seventeenth century.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

After looking briefly at the whole manuscript of 23 folios (46 pages), we can now say that there are details of at least 29 fortifications, not just 23, and that may not be the final number. In due course we hope to establish a complete list. For the time being, the work for which we were generously grant-aided by the CST focussed on 9 folios covering 6 artillery castles, all of which were built or modified during the early stages of the ‘device’ programme of Henry VIII, between 1539 and 1541. We selected these as a suitable sample of the manuscript because historically they formed a discrete group in the jurisdiction of and under the command of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports: they are the castles at Sandown, Deal, Walmer, Dover, Sandgate and Camber.

Plan of Sandgate from one of the folios of the document. Courtesy of Paul Pattison

Even though our unknown Dutch engineer was clearly in a hurry with his survey, as we reported last time, his work is accurate. For most sites there is usually a main plan taking up one face of a folio – a detailed and well-proportioned sketch with copious annotations that include measurements and notes on features of interest, sometimes including room use, and often pointing out defects requiring attention. In rare cases a room is named, notably ‘The Queen’s Room’ at Sandgate, a lovely, early reference to a tradition recording Elizabeth I’s stay at the castle in 1572. Sometimes, room functions are specified e.g. the porter’s lodge at Camber, giving valuable insight to the daily workings of a castle.

As well as a main drawing, the engineer also made smaller sketch plans and elevations to show details e.g. an elevation of the cupola at the centre of the roof at Deal Castle, noting also its use as both a gunpowder store and a sea mark; or a plan of a double-splayed gun embrasure at Walmer Castle. Typically, the particulars of each site are further noted in a separate block of text taking up another side of a folio, sometimes also incorporating small sketches. This text tends to summarise defects and requirements, so does not provide a full picture of the castle, but rather concentrates on repairs needed and remedies.

However, there is one atypical folio that mentions two known individuals. One is the relatively well-known master gunner at Dover Castle, William Eldred, notable for his authorship of The Gunners Glasse, a treatise on gunnery published in 1646. The other was a Mr Griffiths, secretary to Edward, Lord Zouche, who was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports between 1615 and 1625. We are presently exploring them both in the State Papers at the National Archives and in other documents at the British Library and we are confident – and excited – that we will be able to tie down the date of the survey to the year.

The translation of three other folios for Dover Castle represents a real step forward in understanding that castle during this otherwise hazy period in its history. The manuscript names and provides details of eight mural towers, two gates and three other buildings explored by the engineer, most of which we can relate to those surviving today, possibly the earliest evidence we have for named towers in the castle: a few of the names are previously unknown. There are three sketches of tower plans, which should enable their identification: one is certainly Fitzwilliam Gate. Many of the Dover Castle towers needed significant repairs, for which the engineer estimated costs. The Dover folios also record two forts defending the harbour and anchorage. The first is Moats Bulwark, the battery at the base of the cliff below the castle, just above the beach, and the small angle-bastioned fort guarding the western harbour, Archcliffe Fort.

Only recently, we have begun to look closely at another survey, long thought to be broadly contemporary, carried out in 1623 by the Board of Ordnance at the request of James I and his Privy Council. Our initial work on this, comparing entries for the same sites, suggests that the two surveys may be closely related and we look forward to providing another update here, when we have fully explored that intriguing possibility.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Update from Visualising Canterbury Castle: the importance of the site visit

Project lead of the Canterbury Castle Visualisation project, Dr Katie McGown, gives an update on how the project is progressing.

The Visualising Canterbury Castle project is in the process of producing a new digital reconstruction of Canterbury Castle’s Norman keep. In our last post we discussed the first of a series of co-design sessions we have organised to allow a range of expertise and stakeholders to help us develop and interrogate the model we are producing. However, this is not the only way we are collating information to inform our understanding of the built structure.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Canterbury Castle has been closed to the public since 2018, and as it is currently being refurbished, the walls are obscured by scaffolding. Because of this, initially we drew heavily on Excavations at Canterbury Castle (Bennet et al, 1982) published by CAT, which features elevation and plan drawings. This helped us map out the size and shape of the building for the early stages of the model. However, over the course of the development of the project, questions have arisen about areas of the building which are no longer extant, and we’ve had to piece together information from other sources, and crucially, by visiting other castles.

After the first co-design session our student interns, Ethan Serfontein and Joseph Seare, and Technical Lead, Mike Farrant, were invited to Rochester Castle by Dr Jeremy Ashbee, Head Properties Curator, English Heritage. Through visiting a similar structure, the team gained greater understanding of both the defining features of a Norman keep, and how we can draw evidence from the building to inform our reconstruction.

Joseph (l) and Ethan (r) from the project team visiting Rochester Castle (copyright Dr Katie McGown)

As we continued to develop the digital reconstruction, questions began to emerge about the structure of the outer staircase and how this would look. This is a difficult question to answer given that the structure no longer exists. However, the team were able to develop a better understanding of how the space might have worked by comparing their observations in Rochester with a visit to Dover Castle. Professor Alan Meades, Dr Cat Cooper, Mike, Joseph and Ethan went down to Dover and spent time discussing the differences between the three Royal Norman castles in Kent, and documenting features like the staircase. Dover Castle also gave the team the opportunity to appreciate the lovely Norman interiors.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Dover Castle Keep copyright Dr Katie McGown

Christchurch, Canterbury visualising team visiting Dover Castle, copyright Dr Katie McGown

Recently, we were able to visit Canterbury Castle, courtesy of Lian Harter from Purcell and Alison Hargreaves from Canterbury City Council. Dr Katie McGown and Cat donned high vis, hard hats, and steelies to climb the scaffolding. This visit allowed them to think about sight lines around the city, but also observe important details such as this stunning herringbone brickwork in the fireplace. The tour also gave us incredible insight into the refurbishment of the keep, and how that process might be incorporated into the eventual curriculum resource that accompanies the project.

Dr Katie McGown visiting Canterbury Castle refurbishment

Canterbury Castle refurbishment copyright Dr Katie McGown

Herringbone fireplace at Canterbury Castle, copyright Dr Katie McGown

We’ve also been thinking more broadly about how the project might fit into wider activities in development for the 2027 European Year of the Normans. Professor Leonie Hicks, Cat and Katie travelled to Caen Castle to see about possible collaborations for work at the site, and were delighted to have a detailed tour led by Curator Jean-Marie Levesque around the delicate foundations of Caen Castle’s Norman keep. The team also took the opportunity to see the Bayeux Tapestry prior to its voyage to the British Museum.

Caen Castle, copyright Dr Katie McGown

Canterbury Castle visualisation team with Caen Castle curator Jean-Marie Levesque

Each of these visits informs the development of the digital reconstruction. For example, following the visit to Canterbury Castle, the fireplaces were adjusted to showcase the herringbone brickwork.

Original visualisation of Canterbury Castle fireplace prior to visit. Copyright Canterbury Castle Visualisation

Canterbury Castle Visualisation updated fireplace with herringbone stonework. Copyright Christchurch Canterbury Visualisation

Similarly, being able to see the refurbishment of Canterbury’s Caen stone has informed the exterior of the digital reconstruction.

Refurbishment of Canterbury Castle with new Caen stone, copyright Dr Katie McGown

Canterbury Castle Visualisation updated to include Caen stone noted in the castle restoration, copyright Christchurch Canterbury Visualisation team

The team has one final visit planned to Norwich Castle before the end of the project, and we are looking forward to continuing to develop our understanding and appreciation of Norman keeps.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

Deciphering the Text: the Process of Transcribing SP9/99

Project leads Paul Pattison and Esther van Raamsdonk give an update on how their project on transcribing and translating of the Seventeenth Century survey by a Dutch Engineer of 22 castles and fortifications.

Now we are reaching the end of our research project – Transcribing and Translating SP9/99: A Seventeenth-Century Dutch Survey of 22 English Castles and Fortifications – we wanted to share a little more about the process of coming to grips with this engrossing manuscript.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

A brief bit of context: the National Archives holds an anonymous manuscript, currently undated but certainly early seventeenth century, which contains a survey of at least 22 English castles and fortifications. This survey was carried out by a Dutch engineer, who clearly spent considerable time in England, as he has adopted several English words (albeit with idiosyncratic spellings). Because of the linguistic and material challenges – the unorthodox Dutch, the difficult handwriting, and the bad condition of the paper – it has never been transcribed and translated. The value of understanding the manuscript, however, is clear. The survey outlines the condition of the castles and fortifications at the time; it provides early modern names of buildings and their elements, some of which are now lost. It also provides suggestions for improvement, some of which we know have later been realised. We can now relate these improvements to the suggestions of the survey. More will be said in due course about some of our findings concerning what we can learn about the history and development of the 6 particular castles that we have now transcribed and translated – Sandown, Deal, Walmer, Dover, Sandgate and Camber – but here we wanted to elaborate a little on the fun and challenges of transcription.

The engineer was from the Low Countries. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where, but it was likely the southern end of the Netherlands, as the language does not follow the more standardised version of Dutch that by that time flourished in the North. Beyond the language, there is no punctuation in the document, not even a full stop. Almost all text is in phrases; there are no complete sentences; frequently verbs are missing. It reads like a list or a summing up of the engineer’s thoughts as he examined the sites. However, the content is also careful and precise, noting measurements, directions, costs and uses, all accompanied with skilful drawings and plans.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter

We will give you here two examples from Camber Castle. We have included the engineer’s full sketch plan here but will zoom in on the central keep. Having spent several months with this engineer and his handwriting, it can feel like we know the man quite well. He was often in a rush. This is visible in the way he sometimes repeats the same word in a row, and the density of abbreviations used. In the early modern period, abbreviations were common, and were themselves often standardised. For example, yt for that, or S^r for sir. These could be marked in several ways, but most often in either superscript or with a line above the word. Our engineer liked to break with tradition and places a characteristic C above a word. In my years working as palaeographer, I have never come across this, so we can reasonably conclude that this engineer was not formally trained. That is to say, he did not go to university; for most of the early modern texts that we work with, the authors had received a formal education and conform to the ‘rules’ of writing, but our engineer had worked out his own system of noting deviations. In a similar break with tradition, he uses the C symbol in three ways: to mark an abbreviation, to flag where he has made a mistake, or to indicate an English word and that he does not know how to spell it. Which one of these is the case for individual words is up to us to find out.

Image of Camber Castle from manuscript SP9/ 99. Copyright Paul Pattison

In the image below, there is a good example of the difficulty of these abbreviations or deviations. In the keep of Camber castle, there is written ‘ende boven, …… 3r 1v’. We know there is something strange going on with the word ‘boven’ because of the symbol C. To confuse matters further, this handwriting uses the same letter for v and n, and its e is often written as an o. We therefore assumed that this word would be an abbreviation of ‘benen’ (sometimes written as benéen), meaning ‘beneden’, which is Dutch for beneath or underneath. However, after working on several castles, it did not make sense that he would be talking about a roof beneath a room, and we therefore had to revisit all instances of benen and realised in some cases it had to be ‘boven’, meaning above. In this case the C symbol merely signifies the confusion between n and v, that the engineer himself clearly also suffered from.

Camber Castle image close up from SP9 / 99. Copyright Paul Pattison, National Archive Kew

To give an example of the engineer’s haste, or possibly enthusiasm, we can turn now to the marks just above the word ‘boven’ in the previous image. As is clearly visible from the full photo of Camber castle, this was a gifted draftsman. Camber Castle is certainly not the most technically difficult of the castles in the manuscript, but, as ever, his attention to detail and scale is impressive. The care he took in the drawing itself is not always present in his annotations, presumably because these were in draft form. As a result, the distinction between what is part of the drawing and what are notes that were added later is blurred. In the below image on the left, there is a strange mark which can be transcribed as ‘hffo’. This is not even close to an early modern Dutch word. The h also misses its characteristic full loop in the bottom curve. We thought it might be an abbreviation, although the C-symbol is not present, or some sort of mark highlighting an element of the building. It was only after we went over the full transcription several times again, that we realised he had misspelled ‘hoff’, like the word on the right, meaning ‘courtyard’ in Dutch. In his rush he had jumbled the order of the letters and not fully closed his h.

Camber Castle image close up 2 from SP9 / 99 at National Archives, Kew. Copyright Paul Pattison

These moments of breakthrough are rather exhilarating. Most of the transcriptions and translations that we have made still have some outstanding ‘curiosities’ to be solved. However, as a result of these idiosyncrasies or oddities, we have been drawn very close to the material and grappled with all aspects of it: the material history, the background of the engineer, the process of surveying these castles and fortifications, and the long history of repair. We are now in the process of puzzling over the new information the survey has brought to light and how it fits with what we already know about these buildings. We look forward to disclosing further updates here, hopefully in fully legible modern English.

Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter