Bourne Castle was a castle in the market town of

Bourne Bourne may refer to: Places UK * Bourne, Lincolnshire, a town ** Bourne Abbey ** Bourne railway station * Bourne (electoral division), West Sussex * Bourne SSSI, Avon, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrington, North Somerset * Bourne ...

in southern

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

(). A

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

castle was built by

Baldwin FitzGilbert Baldwin FitzGilbert (died 1086-1091) (''alias'' Baldwin the Sheriff, Baldwin of Exeter, Baldwin de Meulles/Moels and Baldwin du Sap) was a Norman magnate and one of the 52 Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror, of who ...

(son of

Gilbert Fitz Richard Gilbert Fitz Richard (–), 2nd feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, and styled "de Tonbridge", was a powerful Anglo-Norman baron who was granted the Lordship of Cardigan, in Wales . Life Gilbert, born before 1066, was the second son and an heir ...

, of the

De Clare The House of Clare was a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house that held at various times the earldoms of Pembroke, Hertford and Gloucester in England and Wales, as well as playing a prominent role in the Norman invasion of Ireland. They were de ...

family). In

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

times there was motte and double bailey castle which formed an unusual

concentric In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric, coaxal, or coaxial when they share the same center or axis. Circles, regular polygons and regular polyhedra, and spheres may be concentric to one another (sharing the same center point ...

plan. The castle was destroyed after being used by

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's troops in 1645 and a farmhouse was built on the site. Traces of the enclosed mound and inner and outer moats (forming part of the Bourne Eau) are all that now survive. The land the castle occupied is now a park, known as the Wellhead Park, owned by the Bourne United Charities and is open to the public. The first reference to Bourne Castle was in the 1179/80 Pipe Roll. There are other mentions of Bourne Castle throughout its history including the IPM (Inquisition Post Mortem) and the Close Rolls.

References

* * * Castles in Lincolnshire Bourne, Lincolnshire {{England-castle-stub