Stone built enclosure castle of c1225, further strengthened in the mid to late C14; ruinous in C16. Beseiged unsuccessfully by Royalists in the Civil War. Rebuilt in C19. Most authorities have assumed that the recorded timber precussor castle, of c1150, to this castle was at this site but see Cockermouth Tute Hill (NY124307) (qv) which may be the actual precursor.The site is on a promonotory between the Rivers Cocker and Derwent, and there has been a castle since before 1221. The Hall, 1360, Flag Tower 1387, Gatehouse rebuilt circa 1400, vaulted, with round arch and spiral stair. The upper rooms communicate with Lord Egremont's house and also the east range of buildings.. Full curtain walls and 2 wards. Masonry in good order externally. Other buildings C19 and C20. (Derived from listed building description)

View a higher resolution map

Name	Cockermouth Castle
Alternative Names
Historic County	Cumberland
Civil Parish	Cockermouth
Type	Masonry Castle
Confidence	Certain
Remains	Masonry ruins/remnants
Listed	Grade 1
Scheduled Ancient Monument	Yes
Ordnance Survey Reference	NY122308
Eastings	312230
Northing	530850
Images of England Reference	71651
PastScape Reference	9485
Historic Environment Record	3035

Multi Map

StreetMaps

Books

• Perriam, Denis and Robinson, John, 1998, The Medieval Fortified Buildings of Cumbria (CWAAS) p90-1
• Salter, Mike, 1998, The Castles and Tower Houses of Cumbria (Malvern) p40-3
• Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p39-40
• Cope, Jean, 1991, Castles in Cumbria (Cicerone Press) p82-6
• Jackson, M.J.,1990, Castles of Cumbria (Carel Press) p46-8 [plan]
• King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p84
• Bradbury, J.B., 1981, History of Cockermouth p38-61
• Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p211
• Hugill, Robert, 1977, Castles and Peles of Cumberland and Westmorland (Newcastle; Frank Graham) p69-73
• Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p134-5
• Pevsner, N., 1967, The Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (London, Penguin) p107-8
• Curwen, J.F., 1913, Castles and Fortified Towers of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands (Kendal) p127-33
• Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
• Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p304-8
• Taylor, M.W., 1892, Old Manorial Halls of Westmorland and Cumberland (CWAAS extra series Vol8) p336-8 http://www.archive.org/stream/oldmanorialhall00taylgoog#page/n496/mode/2up
• Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol1 p409-18 [reprint of 1874 article]
• Wyndham, c1850, Sketches of Cockermouth Castle
• 1847, History, Gazetteer and Directory of Cumberland (Mannix and Whellan)
• Lysons, Daniel and Samuel, 1816, 'Antiquities: Castles' Magna Britannia Vol4: Cumberland p. ccii-ccvi http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50673
• Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p38
• Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol1 p45-8 http://books.google.com/books?id=D01LAAAAMAAJ

Antiquarian

• William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cumbeng.html#cumb7]
• Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p93, 97, 338

Journals

• 1974, Country Life Vol156 p146-9, 210-3
• King, D.J.C. and Alcock, L., 1969, 'Ringworks in England and Wales' Château Gaillard Vol3 p90-127
• 1929, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol29 p69-80
• Curwen, J.F., 1911, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol11 p129-58
• Jackson, 1878-9, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol4 p109-38
• Clark, 1874, The Builder Vol32 p944-7
• Rev. Dr. Bruce, 1866-76, Archaeologia Aeliana Vol7 p80
• 1-7-1830, The Citizen Vol25 p755-7
• 1797, Gentleman's Magazine Vol67 pt1 p9 http://books.google.com/books?vid=uom39015018405236

Primary Sources

• Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p152-3