Guildford Castle

Guildford Castle is in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is thought to have been built by William the Conqueror, or one of his barons, shortly after the 1066 invasion of England.

After the Battle of Hastings in 1066 William led his army to Canterbury and then sacked towns along the Pilgrims' Way, including Guildford. Later William, or one of his barons, built Guildford Castle. There is no record of it in the Domesday Book of 1086, so construction probably started after that date.

First to be built at the Castle would have been the motte (a mound) around which was a ditch and a bailey protected by a wooden palisade. The bailey's boundary would have run along Castle Street, South Hill, what is now Racks Close and parallel with Quarry Street (although slightly to the east). If it followed a typical Norman design the bailey would have been divided with a palisade into two parts, the outer and inner bailey. The inner bailey would have encompassed the motte on which a wooden keep would have been built as a look-out post for the soldiers stationed there.

Late 11th or early 12th century, a wall made of Bargate stone was built around the top of the motte creating what is known as a shell keep, and then around the 1130s a keep (tower) was added, again made of Bargate stone from nearby Godalming bonded with hard and durable mortar. The keep may have been built over part of the shell keep and its foundations went down to the chalk bedrock. The general form was quadrangular, its exterior dimensions being 47 feet (14 m) by 45.5 feet (13.9 m). The walls are about 10 feet (3.0 m) thick at the base and taper towards the top.

The keep had a ground and first floor with the entrance located in the first floor to aid in defence. The keep was most likely used as a private apartment for the King. The ground floor was windowless. On the first floor there was a main chamber, a chapel, and wardrobe with latrine. A second floor was added shortly afterwards containing a two-seater latrine. The addition of the second floor made the keep over 70 feet (21 m) high. The roof of the building was made of lead and the inner walls were covered in plaster and then whitewashed.

In the 12th century the King moved to better apartments located in the bailey. The main bailey buildings would have included a great hall, apartments for the King and Queen and their chapels.

Text adapted from “Guildford Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Guildford Castle ranks #3,071 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #203 of the 333 mapped in England. Founded c. 1100, it is older than 86% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 325 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,901 times in the last 60 days, more than 65% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Basingstoke, 36 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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