Peterborough Castle, also known as Mount Thorold and Touthill, was a medieval
motte and bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...
castle in
Peterborough
Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
, England.
Details
Peterborough Castle was built by Abbot Thorold of Peterborough, a Norman appointed to the post by
William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
. A motte and bailey design was erected close to
the cathedral, in what is now the Dean's garden.
[Armitage, p.186.] Thorold built the castle to protect himself against the monks in the cathedral, during the turbulent post-conquest period.
Mount Thorold, Peterborough
', Gatehouse website, accessed 21 May 2011. The castle was destroyed by the 12th century abbot Martin de Bec.
[
Today only the motte survives of the castle and is now between ten and twelve metres high.][ The castle has scheduled monument status.][
]
See also
*Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 105 ...
*List of castles in England
This list of castles in England is not a list of every building and site that has "castle" as part of its name, nor does it list only buildings that conform to a strict definition of a castle as a medieval fortified residence. It is not a list ...
Bibliography
*Armitage, Ella. (1912) ''The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles.'' London: John Murray.
References
{{Peterborough
Castles in Cambridgeshire
Buildings and structures in Peterborough