Castle Howe is a
motte and bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...
castle in the town of
Kendal
Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...
, England.
History
![Castle Howe, 1611](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Castle_Howe%2C_1611.JPG)
Castle Howe was built after the
Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
, either in 1087 by the Norman nobleman
Ivo Taillebois
Ivo Taillebois (died 1094) was a powerful Norman nobleman, sheriff and tenant-in-chief in 11th-century England.
Life
Ivo Taillebois was a Norman most probably from Taillebois, now a small hamlet in Saint-Gervais de Briouze, Calvados.K.S.B. Keat ...
, or by the nobleman Ketel some time after 1100.
Cumbria Extensive Urban Survey
', p.10, English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, 2006, accessed 3 April 2012. The castle was designed as a motte and bailey fortification, with a circular motte 11 m high and 48 m wide at the base, and a curved bailey hugging the ridge alongside it.
The castle was abandoned in the 12th century, either by one Gilbert, or by
William de Lancaster.
The bailey was later destroyed when the area was turned into a park. The remaining earthworks are maintained South Lakeland District Council, with information boards placed at the foot of the motte.
Kendal – Castle Howe
', Visit Cumbria, accessed 3 April 2012.
See also
*
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 1050 ...
*
List of castles in England
This list of castles in England is not a list of every building and site that has "castle" as part of its name, nor does it list only buildings that conform to a strict definition of a castle as a medieval fortified residence. It is not a li ...
References
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Castles in Cumbria
Kendal