England · 11th century
Halton Castle is a castle in the village of Halton, part of the town of Runcorn, Cheshire, England. The castle is on the top of Halton Hill, a sandstone prominence overlooking the village. The original building, a motte-and-bailey castle began in 1071, was replaced with the current sandstone castle in the 13th century. Building alterations continued until at least 1609, when the structure is recorded as in disrepair. The castle is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and a scheduled monument.
It was the seat of the Barons of Halton from the 11th century until the 14th century, then passed to the Duchy of Lancaster. It was besieged twice in the Civil War after which its structure deteriorated. In the 18th century a new courthouse was built on the site of the previous gatehouse. The castle lies in ruins apart from the courthouse which has been converted into a public house.
Text adapted from “Halton Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Halton Castle ranks #1,870 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #119 of the 360 mapped in England. Founded c. 1001, it is older than 91% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 436 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,737 times in the last 60 days, more than 66% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Liverpool, 21 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.
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