Cambridge motte and bailey castle, Civil War earthworks and the buried remains of an Iron Age defended settlement, Roman town and former county gaol

Scheduled area

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History & significance

Cambridge motte and bailey castle is a Norman fortification located in the centre of Cambridge, constructed in the decades following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The castle comprises a substantial motte, or mound, with a bailey, or defended courtyard, and represents one of the characteristic military responses to Norman settlement in England during the eleventh century. Beneath and around the castle earthworks lie stratified remains of earlier occupation including an Iron Age defended settlement and a Roman town, making the site of considerable archaeological significance for understanding the long continuity of Cambridge's development. The castle itself was later adapted during the English Civil War with additional earthwork fortifications, and the site subsequently served as the location of the county gaol before its eventual abandonment as a place of confinement.

Cambridge motte and bailey castle, Civil War earthworks and the buried remains of an Iron Age defended settlement, Roman town and former county gaol is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1006905. View the official record →

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