page_title: Bedford Castle
section_title: Mid-medieval period (1153–1224)
hierarchical_section_title: Bedford Castle / History / Mid-medieval period (1153–1224)
caption_attribution_description: English: A medieval (C12/C13) lime kiln in the grounds of Bedford Castle. Discovered in 1972. It has had a shop front (part of a group on Castle Lane) built around it. It was open to the public as part of the council run "Castle Quay Weekender", which consisted of free exhibitions and performances designed to showcase this newly redeveloped and underutilized area of town.
context_page_description: Bedford Castle was a large medieval castle in Bedford, England. Built after 1100 by Henry I, the castle played a prominent part in both the civil war of the Anarchy and the First Barons' War. The castle was significantly extended in stone, although the final plan of the castle remains uncertain. Henry III of England besieged the castle in 1224 following a disagreement with Falkes de Breauté; the siege lasted eight weeks and involved an army of as many as 2,700 soldiers with equipment drawn from across England. After the surrender of the castle, the king ordered its destruction.
  Although partially refortified in the 17th century during the English Civil War, the castle remained a ruin until the urban expansion in Bedford during the 19th century, when houses were built across much of the property. Today only part of the motte still stands, forming part of an archaeological park built on the site between 2007 and 2009.
context_section_description: Early in 1215 tensions grew between King John and a rebel faction of his barons, which would lead to the First Barons' War. The rebel barons attempted to besiege Northampton Castle; unsuccessful, they turned to Bedford Castle but the castle withstood the attack and they moved south to London. Bedford was held at the time by William de Beauchamp but his loyalty came into question and he rebelled against John. Falkes de Breauté, a key Anglo-Norman leader loyal to John, resisted and seized Bedford Castle back for John in 1216.  In return John gave Falkes the Honour of Bedford, and in practical terms the castle as well, although it is unclear whether he gave Falkes the role of castellan or ownership of the castle itself. As the war continued, Falkes took control of Plympton, Christchurch and Carisbrooke castles, whilst continuing to hold onto Bedford. After the death of King John in 1216 the war turned against the rebel barons and the royalist faction, including Falkes, was able to restore his son, the young Henry III to power in England.
  After the war, Falkes made Bedford Castle his headquarters and he expanded it considerably, resulting in what David Baker has described as a "major refortification". Falkes destroyed the neighbouring churches of St Paul's and St Cuthbert's to make space for a new bailey, reusing the stone for the castle. The exact form of the castle after this expansion remains uncertain. The castle appears to have been quadrangular, with the western edge running along the rear of the modern High Street and the northern edge running along the modern roads of Ram Yard and Castle Lane. The castle had a new barbican; an outer and an inner bailey, with the inner bailey in the south-east corner, protected by an internal ditch and a stone-lined palisade; further stone lined ditches lay around the castle; and a new keep was built on the motte. Brown suspects that the new keep was probably a shell keep with a tower, similar to those built at Launceston or Bungay. The stone-lined palisades and ditches built at Bedford were very unusual in England – their closest equivalent are those found at Skenfrith Castle in Wales. The castle had a postern watergate facing towards the river, and a great hall within the inner bailey in the middle, at least 13 m (43 feet) wide and 40 m (131 feet) long. There was possibly a large stone gatehouse positioned on the outer bailey wall. A mound in the north-east corner of the castle probably supported a large tower.
caption: The medieval lime kiln preserved as part of the archaeological park at Bedford Castle
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