page_title: Lincoln Castle
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Lincoln Castle / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: The 12th-century Lucy Tower at Lincoln Castle
context_page_description: Lincoln Castle is a major Norman castle constructed in Lincoln, England, during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is one of only two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in East Sussex. Lincoln Castle remained in use as a prison and law court into modern times, and is one of the better preserved castles in England; the Crown Courts continue to this day. It is open to the public most days of the week, and possible to walk around the walls from which there are views of the castle complex, cathedral, the city, and surrounding countryside. The castle is now owned by Lincolnshire County Council and is a scheduled ancient monument.
context_section_description: After William the Conqueror defeated Harold Godwinson and the English at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, he continued to face resistance to his rule in the north of England. For a number of years, William's position was very insecure. In order to project his influence northwards to control the people of the Danelaw (an area that had for a time been under the control of Scandinavian settlers), he constructed a number of major castles in the North and Midlands of England: including those at Cambridge, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Nottingham, Warwick and York.
  When William reached Lincoln (one of the country's major settlements), he found a Viking commercial and trading centre with a population of 6,000 to 8,000. The remains of the old Roman walled fortress, located 60 metres (200 ft) above the countryside to the south and west, proved an ideal strategic position to construct a new castle. Lincoln was also a vital strategic crossroads of the following routes (largely the same routes which influenced the siting of the Roman fort):
  Ermine Street - a major Roman road and England's main north-south route, connecting London and York.
  Fosse Way - another important Roman route connecting Lincoln with the city of Leicester and the south-west of England.
  The valley of the River Trent (to the west and southwest) - a major river affording access to the River Ouse, and thus the major city of York.
  The River Witham - a waterway connected to the River Trent (via the Fossdyke Roman canal at Torksey) and to the North Sea via The Wash.
  The Lincolnshire Wolds - an upland area to the northeast of Lincoln, which overlooks the Lincolnshire Marsh beyond.
  A castle here could guard several of the main strategic routes and form part of a network of strongholds of the Norman kingdom, in the former Danish Mercia, roughly the area today referred to as the East Midlands, to control the country internally.
  The Domesday Survey of 1086 directly records 48 castles in England, with two in Lincolnshire including one in Lincoln. Building a castle within an existing settlement sometimes meant existing structures had to be removed: of the castles noted in the Domesday Book, thirteen included references to property being destroyed to make way for the castle. In Lincoln's case 166 "unoccupied residences" were pulled down to clear the area on which the castle would be built.
  Work on the new fortification was completed in 1068. Probably at first a wooden keep was constructed, which was later replaced with a much stronger stone one. Lincoln Castle is very unusual in having two mottes, the only other surviving example of such a design being at Lewes. To the south, where the Roman wall stands on the edge of a steep slope, it was retained partially as a curtain wall and partially as a revetment retaining the mottes. In the west, where the ground is more level, the Roman wall was buried within an earth rampart and extended upward to form the Norman castle wall. The Roman west gate (on the same site as the castle's west gate) was excavated in the 19th century but began to collapse on exposure, and so was re-buried.
  The castle was the focus of attention during the First Battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141, during the struggle between King Stephen and Empress Matilda over who should be monarch in England. A new tower, called the Lucy Tower, was built on the site.
  Lincoln Castle was again besieged before the Second Battle of Lincoln, on 20 May 1217, during the reign of Henry III of England during the course of the First Barons' War. This was the period of political struggle that followed the sealing of Magna Carta on 15 June 1215. After this, a new barbican was built onto the west and east gates. In 1375, one Agatha Lovel—"notoriously suspect" in the murder of her master, Sir William de Cantilupe—escaped justice by bribing her Lincoln Castle gaolers, where she had been imprisoned awaiting trial. The bailiffs, Thomas Thornhaugh and John Bate, were later arrested and tried for allowing Agatha to escape justice, but were either pardoned or acquitted.
caption: The Lucy Tower in 2013, at which point the castle was undergoing a programme of renovation.
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