Battlefields›Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322
Medieval

Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322

1322
West Yorkshire, England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
occupation
Location
West Yorkshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster and the Lancastrian rebels
VS
Victor
Edward II and the royalist party
Outcome
No siege took place: after Thomas of Lancaster's defeat at the Battle of Boroughbridge on 16 March 1322, the constable of Pontefract Castle surrendered it to Edward II without resistance on 19 March 1322. Edward used the castle as his base to try Lancaster, who was executed outside its walls on 22 March 1322.
The Battle

History & Significance

Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322 was a medieval occupation, fought at West Yorkshire, England in 1322. Edward II and the royalist party prevailed over Thomas, Earl of Lancaster and the Lancastrian rebels. No siege took place: after Thomas of Lancaster's defeat at the Battle of Boroughbridge on 16 March 1322, the constable of Pontefract Castle surrendered it to Edward II without resistance on 19 March 1322. Edward used the castle as his base to try Lancaster, who was executed outside its walls on 22 March 1322.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322 lies on Pennine Upper Coal Measures Formation, bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322

This page covers Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
First month just £4.99, then £9.99 a month. Unlimited locations, cancel anytime.

Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

Start your Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322 report
Or see a real report first
Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322

Pontefract Castle: part of late Saxon cemetery and town ditch, Norman motte and bailey castle and later medieval enclosure castle
Pontefract Castle: part of late Saxon cemetery and town ditch, Norman motte and bailey castle and later medieval enclosure castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Pontefract Castle is a fortified site in West Yorkshire that developed through multiple periods of occupation and modification from the Norman period onwards. The castle originated as a motte and bailey fortress established in the late eleventh century, taking advantage of a naturally elevated po…

Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
St John's Priory
St John's Priory
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 mi

St John's Priory is a medieval religious house located in Yorkshire, England. The priory dates to the medieval period and formed part of the network of monastic establishments that characterised the English landscape from the Norman period onwards. The site retains physical remains which reflect…

Boundary cross on the corner of Ferrybridge Road and Stumpcross Lane
Boundary cross on the corner of Ferrybridge Road and Stumpcross Lane
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 mi

Boundary cross on the corner of Ferrybridge Road and Stumpcross Lane is a medieval monument located in Yorkshire, England. The cross marks a parish or territorial boundary, a common function of such structures erected during the medieval period to define administrative divisions in the landscape.…

Bill Henderson / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Ferrybridge near Knottingley
Ferrybridge near Knottingley
Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

Ferrybridge is a crossing point of the River Aire near Knottingley in West Yorkshire with medieval origins. The site has long served as an important ford and ferry location facilitating communication and trade across the river, with evidence of its use persisting through the medieval period and i…

D Gore / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Roman Bath House, Castleford
Roman Bath House, Castleford
Scheduled monument · ~3.2 mi

Roman Bath House, Castleford is a substantial remain of bathing facilities dating to the Roman occupation of Britain, situated within the fortress settlement at Castleford in West Yorkshire. The structure represents evidence of the infrastructure and daily life maintained at this important milita…

Lajmmoore / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Dovecote 90m south of Hall Farm
Dovecote 90m south of Hall Farm
Scheduled monument · ~4.3 mi

Dovecote 90m south of Hall Farm is a stone-built dovecote located in Yorkshire, England, designated as a scheduled ancient monument under NHLE list entry 1016547. The structure dates from the post-medieval period and represents a functional agricultural building typical of its era, when dovecotes…

derek dye / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Ferrybridge Henge, a prehistoric enclosure, and two round barrows
Scheduled monument · ~1.8 miles
Churchyard cross at the Parish Church of St Luke and All Saints
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 miles
More from this era

Other Medieval Battles

Battle site (Shivey)
1068
northern_ireland
Siege of Exeter (1068)
1068
England
Eustace II's Attack on Dover Castle
1067
Kent, England
Launceston Castle Norman Establishment and Resistance
1067
England
In the same landscape

Battles near Surrender of Pontefract Castle 1322

Pilgrimage of Grace: Pontefract Castle surrenders, 1536
1536
~0.1 miles away
Pilgrimage of Grace — Pontefract Execution Series 1537
1537
~0.2 miles away
Pilgrimage of Grace: Pontefract Parley and Articles, October 1536
1536
~0.2 miles away
Siege of Pontefract Castle 1648
1648
~0.3 miles away
Explore the history of Yorkshire
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around West Yorkshire

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

Research a location near West YorkshireView a sample report
All Battlefields