Baynard's Castle refers to buildings on two neighbouring sites in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, between where

Blackfriars station Blackfriars (), also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford ...

and St. Paul's Cathedral now stand. The first was a Norman fortification constructed by Ralph Baynard ( 1086), 1st

feudal baron A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely be ...

of Little Dunmow in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and was demolished by King

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

in 1213. The second was a medieval palace built a short distance to the south-east and later extended, but mostly destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

in 1666. According to Sir

Walter Besant Sir Walter Besant (; 14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant. Early life and education The son of wine merchant Wi ...

, "There was no house in ondonmore interesting than this". The original castle was built at the point where the old Roman walls and

River Fleet The River Fleet is the largest of Subterranean rivers of London, London's subterranean rivers, all of which today contain foul water for treatment. It has been used as a culverted sewer since the development of Joseph Bazalgette's London sewe ...

met the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, just east of what is now Blackfriars Station. The north wall of the castle used as its foundation the Roman-era river wall from the 3rd century, distinguished by a tile-course of Roman brick. The Norman castle stood for over a century before being demolished by King

in 1213. It appears to have been rebuilt after the Barons' Revolt, but the site was sold in 1276 to form the precinct of the great Blackfriars' Monastery. About a century later, a new mansion was constructed on land that had been reclaimed from the Thames, south-east of the first castle. The house was rebuilt after 1428, and became the London headquarters of the

House of York The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York ...

during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

. The accession of King

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

was agreed and proclaimed in the castle on 3 March 1461. The house was reconstructed as a royal palace by King Henry VII (1485–1509) at the end of the 15th century, and his son

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

gave it to

Katherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, historical Spanish: , now: ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until its annulment on 23 May ...

on the eve of their wedding. In 1551, after Henry's death in 1547 and during the reign of King

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

, the house was granted to

Earl of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

(1501–1570), brother-in-law of Henry's widow, Queen Katherine Parr. Pembroke built a large extension around a second courtyard in about 1551. The Herbert family took the side of Parliament in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, and after the 1660 Restoration of the Monarchy the house was occupied by Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

. Baynard's Castle was left in ruins after the

in 1666, although fragments survived into the 19th century. The site is now occupied by a BT office called Baynard House and the castle is commemorated by Castle Baynard Street and the Castle Baynard Ward of the City of London.

Norman castle

Today the

has been reduced to a trickle in a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

under New Bridge Street that emerges under Blackfriars Bridge, but before the modern development of London it was the largest river in the area after the Thames. It formed the western boundary of the Roman city of London, and the strategic importance of the junction of the Fleet and the Thames means that the area was probably fortified from early times. Richard of Cirencester suggests that King Canute spent Christmas at such a fort in 1017, where he had Eadric Streona executed.Page (1923), p. 138. Some accounts claim this was triggered by an argument over a game of chess; Historian William Page suggests that Eadric held the fort as

Ealdorman of Mercia Earl of Mercia was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Danish, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. During this period the earldom covered the lands of the old Kingdom of Mercia in the English Midlands. First governed by ealdorman, ealdorm ...

and after his death it may have been granted to Osgod Clapa, who was a "staller", a standard-bearer and representative of the king (see Privileges section). This fort was apparently rebuilt after the 1066

Norman Conquest 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, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

of England by Ralph Baynard, a follower of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

and

Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient High sheriff, sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles (tribe), Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974 ...

. It was on the river-bank inside the Roman walls; a second Norman fort, Montfichet's Tower, stood to the north. The site of Baynard's Castle was adjacent to the church of St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, on the southern side of today's 160 Queen Victoria Street (the former ''Times'' office and now

The Bank of New York Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY, is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York City. It was established in its current form in July 2007 by the merger of the Bank of New York an ...

Centre); archaeologists have found fortifications stretching at least south, onto the site of the proposed development at 2 Puddle Dock. This may be the ''Bainiardus'' mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 who gave his name to springs near

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

called Baynard's Watering, later shortened to Bayswater. The castle was inherited by Ralph Baynard's son Geoffrey and his grandson William Baynard, but the latter forfeited his lands early in the reign of Henry I (1100–1135) for having supported Henry's brother

Robert Curthose Robert Curthose ( – February 1134, ), the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy as Robert II from 1087 to 1106. Robert was also an unsuccessful pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of England. The epithet "Curthose" ...

in his claim to the throne.Page (1923), p. 139. After a few years in the hands of the king, the castle passed to Eustace, Count of Boulogne, by 1106.

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of History of England, English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe C ...

gives 1111 as the date of forfeiture. Stow is an important source for the medieval history of London, but his dates in particular are not always reliable. Later in Henry's reign, the feudal barony of Little Dunmow and the soke of Baynard's Castle were granted to the king's steward, Robert Fitz Richard (1064–1136), younger son of Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare (d. 1090), 1st feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, near Dunmow. The soke was coterminous with the parish of St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, which was adjacent to the Norman castle; the soke roughly corresponds to the present

Castle Baynard Castle Baynard is one of the 25 wards of the City of London, the historic and financial centre of London, England. Features The ward covers an irregularly shaped area, sometimes likened to a tuning fork, bounded on the east by the wards of ...

ward of the City of London. Both Little Dunmow and Baynard's Castle were eventually inherited by his grandson, Robert Fitzwalter (d. 1234).Stow (1598), pp. 269–283. Kingsford (1908)'
notes
on Stow's text.

Fitzwalter and the barons' revolt

Fitzwalter was the leader of the barons' revolt against King

, which culminated in the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

of 1215. The ''Chronicle of Dunmow'' relates that King John desired Fitzwalter's daughter, Matilda the Fair (also known as Maid Marian Fitzwalter—the real-life Maid Marian of the legend of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

) and Fitzwalter was forced to take up arms to defend the honour of his daughter. This romantic tale may well be propaganda giving legitimacy to a rebellion prompted by Fitzwalter's reluctance to pay tax or some other dispute. He plotted with the Welsh prince

Llywelyn ab Iorwerth Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...

and Eustace de Vesci of Alnwick Castle in 1212. John got wind of the plot and exiled Fitzwalter and de Vesci, who fled to France and Scotland, respectively. On 14 January 1213 John destroyed Castle Baynard. Fitzwalter was forgiven under the terms of the king's submission to

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

in May 1213. His estates were restored on 19 July 1213 and according to Stow he was given licence to repair Castle Baynard and his other castles. It is not clear to what extent the castle was rebuilt, but in 1275 Robert FitzWalter, 1st Baron FitzWalter (Fitzwalter's grandson), was given licence to sell the site to Robert Kilwardby,

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, to serve as the precinct of the great Dominican Priory at Blackfriars built in 1276. Montfichet's Tower was included in the sale, having also been destroyed by King John in 1213. Building of the priory required a section of the City Wall to be repositioned and the former military functions of the castle were taken up by a new "tower" in the river at the end of the wall. Started under the great castle-builder King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

(1272–1307), it was completed during the reign of his son Edward II (1307–1327) and was demolished in 1502. This was probably the tower of "Legate's Inn" given by

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

to William de Ros.

Privileges

The lord of Castle Baynard appears to have had held a special place among the nobility of London. Robert Fitzwalter explicitly retained all the franchises and privileges associated with the lordship of Baynard when he made the sale. He claimed them in 1303, his son Robert tried again before the King's Justices in 1327 and his brother John FitzWalter tried again in 1347 in front of the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

and Common Council, all without success. These law-suits centred on a claim to be the "Chief Banneret" of London. Created in the reign of

(1272–1307), knights banneret led troops into battle under their own banner not that of a feudal superior. It seems that the

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

of Castle Baynard had entitled FitzWalter's ancestors to carry the banner of the

, and hence be leaders of the London forces. In 1136 Robert Fitz Richard had claimed the "lordship of the Thames" from London to Staines, as the king's banner-bearer and as guardian of the whole City of London.Page (1923), p. 193. In times of peace, the soke of Castle Baynard held a court which sentenced criminals convicted before the Lord Mayor at the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...

, and maintained a prison and

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

.Page (1923), p. 191. Traitors were tied to a post at Wood Wharf and were drowned as the tide overwhelmed them. Fitzwalter was invited to the Court of Privilege, held at the Great Council in the Guildhall, sitting next to the Lord Mayor making pronouncements of all judgments. This may represent a combination of the post-Conquest Anglo-Norman roles of feudal

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

and local

justiciar Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term or (meaning "judge" or "justice"). The Chief Justiciar was the king's chief minister, roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Justiciar of Ireland was ...

with the ancient Anglo-Saxon office of ''staller''. The latter was the king's standard-bearer in war who was his spokesman at the Danish '' thing'', the 11th-century governing assembly.

New site

A "Hospice called le Old Inne by Pauls Wharfe" is listed in the possessions of Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, who was killed at the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...

in 1415. He may have acquired the house by his marriage to Philippa de Mohun, widow of Walter Fitzwalter (d. 1386). A declaration of 1446 appears to identify this building with a town-house built on land reclaimed from the river, south-east of the original castle. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, rebuilt the house after a "great fire" in 1428, with four wings in a

trapezoid In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...

al shape around a courtyard. Excavations have shown that the Roman riverside wall, on the south side of the medieval Thames Street, formed the foundation of the north wall of the new house. It seems that the nearby waterfront was known as Baynard's Castle even after the original castle was destroyed, and the name was transferred to the building on the new site. Gloucester died within days of being arrested for treason in 1447. The house was forfeited to the crown before being occupied at some time before 1457 by Edward's nephew

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantag ...

, the former

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...

, who kept 400 gentlemen and men-at-arms at the castle in his pursuit of his claim to the throne; he was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. This London powerbase allowed York's son to be crowned as King

in the

great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...

of the castle, whilst Henry VI and

Margaret of Anjou Margaret of Anjou (; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was Queen of England by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Through marriage, she was also nominally Queen of France from 1445 to 1453. Born in the ...

were campaigning in northern England. Edward gave the castle to his mother Cecily Neville on 1 June 1461, a few weeks before his coronation, and he housed his family there for safety before the decisive

Battle of Barnet The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a War of succession, dynastic conflict of England in the Middle Ages, 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured t ...

. After the young princes

Edward V Edward V (2 November 1470 – ) was King of England from 9 April to 25 June 1483. He succeeded his father, Edward IV, upon the latter's death. Edward V was never crowned, and his brief reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle and Lord ...

and his brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

were declared illegitimate in 1483 and imprisoned in the Tower of London, never to be seen again, Edward IV's brother was offered the crown as King

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

at Baynard's Castle, as recounted in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play ''Richard III''. His coronation took place at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

on 6 July 1483.

Tudors

In 1501 King Henry VII "repayred or rather new builded this house, not imbattoled, or so strongly fortified castle like, but farre more beautiful and commodious for the entertainement of any prince or greate estate" ( Stow). Henry's alterations included five projecting towers between two existing polygonal corner towers on the river-front. Henry stayed at the castle when attending functions at St. Paul's Cathedral. His son Henry VIII gave the castle to his first wife

on 10 June 1509, the day before their wedding, and the Queen took up residence there.

Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and fought to exte ...

, widow of

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James I ...

, came to stay at Baynard's Castle in May 1516. Katherine Howard journeyed to Baynard's Castle in May 1541. Later one of Henry's favourite courtiers, Sir William Sidney (–1554), tutor to his son the future

, lived in the castle and made his will there in 1548. By 1551 the house had passed to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1501–1570), the year in which that influential courtier was created

. It was at Baynard's Castle that the Privy Council met to end the claim of

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and reigned ...

to the throne and proclaim Mary as Queen of England. Pembroke's wife Anne Parr (sister of Queen Katherine Parr, widow of

) died in the castle in 1552. The house was extended to the west in about 1550 with three wings of brick, faced with stone on the river-front. The second courtyard formed by this extension is clearly visible on Hollar's view of London before the Great Fire. Old prints show a large gateway in the middle of the south side, a bridge of two arches and steps down to the river. The house remained in the Herbert family until the death of Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, Chancellor of the University of Oxford. He preferred to live at

Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, ...

while his wife Anne Clifford (1590–1676) took up residence in Baynard's Castle, describing it in her memoirs as "a house full of riches, and more secured by my lying there". The 4th Earl sided with the Parliamentarians in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and died in 1650. By 1660 and the Restoration of the Monarchy, the house was occupied by Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, who had fought on the side of the

army in their defeat at the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

in 1651.

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

records that on 19 June 1660 "My Lord (i.e. his relative Edward Montagu) went at night with the King to Baynard's Castle to supper ... he next morning helay long in bed this day, because he came home late from supper with the King".

After the Great Fire

Baynard's Castle was destroyed in the

of 1666. The engraver

Wenceslaus Hollar Wenceslaus Hollar (23 July 1607 – 25 March 1677) was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. He is known to German speakers as ; and to Czech speakers as (). He is partic ...

depicted considerable ruins standing after the fire, including the stone facade on the river side, but only a round tower was left when Strype was writing in 1720. This tower had been converted into a dwelling, whilst the rest of the site became

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

yards and wood wharves with Dunghill Lane running through the site from Thames Street. Richard Horwood's map of c. 1813 shows a wharf which in 1878 belonged to the Castle Baynard Copper Company. The remaining tower (some sources say two survived) was pulled down in the 19th century to make way for warehouses of the Carron Company. In the 1970s the area was redeveloped, with the construction of the Blackfriars underpass and a

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

office block named Baynard House, occupied by the telephone company

BT Group BT Group plc (formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-li ...

. Most of the site under Baynard House is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

Archaeology

Most of the archaeological evidence for the second Baynard's Castle comes from excavations in 1972–5, before the construction of Baynard House office block. Parts of the north wing of both the original house and extension were found, including the north gate and gatetower, and the cobbled entrance from Thames Street.Jackson (2009ii) p. 25. Two east–west "limestone" walls were found; the excavator suggested that the more northerly one was the curtain wall of the pre-1428 castle, and the other was a post-1428 replacement. The latter was surmounted by a brick facing with a rubble core, to which a rectangular pier was attached. The castle had foundations of chalk, ragstone and mortar and was built entirely on reclaimed land. Several phases of building in the late 17th century were also identified. Excavations in 1981 at the

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

uncovered the SE corner tower of the Tudor castle. The London Archaeological Archive codes for the excavations are BC72/GM152, UT74, BC74, BC75 and BYD81.Jackson (2009ii) pp. 25, 28–9, se
London Archaeological Archive
for more details of excavations.

Norman castle

Fitzwalter and the barons' revolt

Privileges

New site

Tudors

After the Great Fire

Archaeology

See also

Notes

References

Further reading