Runcorn Castle Rock

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Other/Unknown), and also as a Possible Masonry Castle

There are no visible remains

NameRuncorn Castle Rock
Alternative Names
Historic CountryCheshire
Modern AuthorityHalton
1974 AuthorityCheshire
Civil ParishRuncorn

Runcorn Burh was founded by Aethelfleda, lady of the Mercians in around 912 in response to presence of a Norse fleet in Irish Sea. A burh is the Saxon name for a fortified settlement. The exact site is not known but is was probably the Castle Rock. This was a promontory jutting out into the River Mersey, which was removed to improve naviagation and construct the railway viaduct. There are plans showing the area before the railway but the area has now been destroyed by bridge building and other industrial workings. place-name evidence suggests there may also have been a Norman castle here for a short period. (Cheshire HER)

A Castle is said to have stood on ground in Runcorn at a position where an earlier Anglo-Saxon Burgh (see SJ 58 SW 8), and fort are also recorded. The castle is mentioned in medieval documents, and there was a ferry on the site in C12. (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

Destroyed 1862, by the construction of a railway bridge across the Mersey and by the Manchester Ship Canal.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSJ508833
Latitude53.3446083068848
Longitude-2.7396399974823
Eastings350820
Northings383330
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Grimsditch, Brian, Nevell, Michael and Nevell, Richard, 2012, Buckton Castle and the Castles of the North West England (University of Salford Archaeological Monograph 2) p. 112
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Lancashire and Cheshire (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 21
  • Harris, B.E. and Thacker, A.T. (eds), 1987, VCH Cheshire Vol. 1 p. 252-3
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 69
  • Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p. 38-9 online copy
  • Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  • Ormerod, G., 1882 (2edn), History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 1 p. 675
  • Beamont, 1873, History of the Castle of Halton (Warrington) p. 3-5 (crude plan) online copy
  • Ormerod, G., 1819, History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 1 p. 497-8 (tenurial history) online copy

Journals

  • Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 202 online copy