Lancaster Castle

While in Morecambe, we took the train to Lancaster and explored the castle and adjacent Lancaster Priory. Both  stand  a hill dominating the River Lune, the site of an earlier Roman fort. It seems fairly certain the castle was built by Roger de Poitou who also founded the priory.

In order to control the country, William the Conqueror granted vast areas of land to trusted lieutenants. As a result Roger de Poitou held not just the castle but  The Honour of Lancaster extending from Cumbria to the Mersey.

Entering the castle from John of Gaunt's great gatehouse

 Unfortunately for Roger, he sided with Robert Curthose after William II’s death but it was Robert's younger brother Henry who seized the throne. Roger fled the country and the Crown took over both the castle and the Honour of Lancaster.  

Land and castle passed down from Henry II to Richard the Lionheart and his brother King John who extended the castle and built the misnamed Hadrian’s Tower. Later generations who'd flunked their history lessons assumed the Emperor Hadrian had built it. 

John's son, Henry III built further extensions, but there development stopped for a time

It was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster who set his seal on the castle by building the large and imposing gatehouse that still stands today.

Another feature that remained until 2011 was its role as a prison, which dates from the late C11^th

Fifteen Catholic martyrs were executed there as were the unfortunate ‘Witches of Pendle.’ 

The witches' cell

 By the late C19^th   Lancaster Gaol enjoyed the reputation of hanging more prisoners than any other prison in the country, largely because it housed the only Assize Court for a county that included rapidly growing cities like Liverpool and Manchester as well as other industrial centres. Between 1782 and 1865 there were around 265 public executions where every man and his dog came along to enjoy the spectacle. The 1868 Capital Punishment Amendment Act ended the fun. From then on hanging became a private affair, the prisoner led directly from the court, past his/her own waiting coffin to the hanging square (later a purpose built shed) within the castle. 

The gaol still in use in 2011

Unfortunately, photographs were banned in the spectacular Court House because it had still been in use until very recently. We did though enjoy a fine cup of tea and a bun in the castle courtyard.