From the Doncaster Star, 10th January 2008

Castle hit by a landslip

A landslip at Tickhill Castle means the historic building may not be open this year. Part of a wall is in a very precarious and dangerous state and it is not safe for members of the public to visit.

Surveyors employed by The Duchy of Lancaster along with a team of civil engineers are working to determine the most effective and long lasting solution to remedy the problem and prevent such landslips occurring in the future.

An old print of Tickhill Castle.
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Photos of Tickhill Castle, taken by our friend from COTW, Peter Presford.

Plan of Tickhill Castle.

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From “The Castles & Tower Houses of Yorkshire” by Mike Salter, 2001.

Roger de Busli is described as having a castle here (known as Blyth) in Domesday Book in 1086. His heir, Roger, was probably a minor in 1102 when Robert de Bellesme held the castle during his rebellion in support of Robert Curthose until it was besieged and captured by Robert Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln. The bailey curtain wall and the square gatehouse date from that period. Only footings remain of an eleven-sided tower keep built by Henry II on the motte summit, expenditure upon it being recorded in 1178-79.

Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham, besieged the rebellious Prince John’s garrison in the castle in 1194, which only surrendered when the imprisoned Richard I returned to England and John was brought to obedience. During his reign, John spent over £300 on building a barbican, a kitchen, a stable, a granary, and work on the moat.

Given by Henry III to Prince Edward in 1254, and then handed over to the prince’s wife, Eleanor, the castle was successfully captured after a siege in 1264. Sir William de Anne successfully held out against a three week siege by the rebel barons in 1322. It then belonged to Edward II’s consort, Queen Isabella, and was later granted to Edward III’s consort, Queen Philippa. It became part of the Duchy of Lancaster, merged with the Crown since 1399, when it was given to John of Gaunt in 1372 as part of an exchange of lands.

The barbican in front of the gatehouse is probably 15th century, which suggests some maintenance during that period, although no royal visits are recorded. A survey of 1538 described the castle as decayed, but it was garrisoned by Royalists in the Civil War until besieged and captured after their defeat at Naseby in 1644. Soon afterwards the keep and a 50m long section of the bailey curtain wall on the south side were destroyed, the parapets knocked of the rest of the wall and gatehouse, and part of the south moat filled in.

The 6m high curtain wall encloses an oval bailey 115m by 85m, and stands above a steep and much overgrown bank down to a water-filled moat 9m wide. Apart from the long breach on the south side, a short section is missing behind the 19th century house on the north side of the bailey. It is likely that the original domestic buildings lay there, since a plain Norman arch is incorporated in the house. The plain postern doorway on the north-east side of the bailey may be original.

The gatehouse on the west side measures about 11m square over walls 2.3m thick. The outer side is decorated with diapered triangular panels over crude figures. The upper storey has a fireplace and a five-light window of the late 16th century.

The 23m high motte on the east is exceptionally large. Beyond its outer ditch, which is now dry, is a counterscarp bank. The motte summit, 24m across, is reached by a spiral path. The keep measured 17.4m in diameter over walls 3.2m thick, with pilaster buttresses on the outer corners. The basement seems to have had a fireplace and a well, and was entered directly from outside through a doorway closed by a portcullis.


From “Discovering Castles in England & Wales” by John Kinross, 1973.

Once a very important castle commanding the road from Lincoln to York, only the curtain wall, moat and gatehouse stand today. Built by Roger de Busli, it was acquired by Henry I and remained in royal hands. King John’s retainers held it against Richard I, but on the latter’s sudden return they were hanged outside its walls. The Count d’Eu, owner of Hastings Castle, held it for some time, but in 1254 it formed part of the dowry of Eleanor of Castile, wife of Edward I. In 1322 Piers Gaveston was besieged here by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. Charles I garrisoned it with eighty men and thirty horses, but it was finally captured in 1644 by Colonel Lilburn, slighted and never fully repaired.