Runcorn Urban Defences

Has been described as a Possible Urban Defence

There are no visible remains

NameRuncorn Urban Defences
Alternative NamesRunkhorn; Runcolan; Castle Rock
Historic CountryCheshire
Modern AuthorityHalton
1974 AuthorityCheshire
Civil ParishRuncorn

C10 defences of form. Possibly still in use when castle built.

The burh was founded by Aethelflaed of Mercia circa 912, and it is possible that a monastery was founded there about the same time. It is probable that Ethelfleda's borough was destroyed at an early period by the Normans, for Runcorn was not a borough at Domesday, but was by then a mere dependancy of the Honour of Halton. (PastScape)

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 navigation 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. (Cheshire HER)

Gatehouse Comments

If the burh was confined to Castle Rock, as suggested by Beamont, then is was of a size very similar to that a many Norman castles and, if so, unlikely to contain much urban settlement (even given the relative insignificance of Runcorn). In fact it would have been that thing anathema to Armitage - a Saxon castle.

- 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

  • Salter, Mike, 2013, Medieval Walled Towns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 157 (mention)
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p. 266
  • Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 92-116 online copy
  • Harris, B.E. and Thacker, A.T. (eds), 1987, VCH Cheshire Vol. 1 p. 252-3
  • Cullen, P.W. and Hordern, R., 1986, Castles of Cheshire (Crossbow Books) p. 5
  • Dodgson, J.McN., 1970, The Place-Names of Cheshire, Part 2 (English Place-Name Society 45) p. 177
  • Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p. 208
  • Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p. 38-9 online copy
  • Beamont, 1873, History of the Castle of Halton (Warrington) p. 1-5 (crude plan) online copy
  • Hanshall, J.H., 1817-23, The History of the County Palatine of Chester p. 418
  • Ormerod, G., 1819, History of the County Palatine and city of Chester (London) Vol. 1 p. 497-8 (tenurial history) online copy

Primary Sources

  • Ingram, James, (ed) 1912, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Everyman Press, London) AD913 view online transcription (Ingram's translation and notes date from 1823. More recent translations of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles should be consulted for serious study)