Hereford Castle

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Hereford Castle was in the cathedral city of Hereford (grid reference SO509395).

It stood on a site to the south and east of the city by the River Wye. It is thought that the first castle on the site was built of timber and erected before the Norman conquest in 1052 by Ralph, son of the Count of Vexin, who had been made Earl of Hereford in 1046. In 1055 the town was overrun by the Welsh under Gruffyd ap Llewellyn and the castle was destroyed.

In 1066 after the Norman conquest, William FitzOsbern, Lord of Breteuil in Normandy, was created Earl of Hereford. He restored the castle which was a motte and bailey castle with the river on one side and a moat on the other three sides. In 1071 William FitzOsbern died and his son Roger took over possession of the castle. He was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to depose King William and consequently forfeited the castle.

In 1138 during the Anarchy Geoffrey Talbot garrisoned the castle on behalf of Matilda. Stephen de Blois and his men marched on the city and took the castle. The following year Matilda landed in Hereford and after routing Stephen’s men seized the city. In 1154 Matilda’s son Henry II granted the motte of Hereford to Roger of Gloucester but a rebellion followed and Henry retook possession and for the rest of its history the castle remained royal.

In 1216 John made Walter de Lacy sheriff of the county and granted him the custody of the royal castle at Hereford and the following year work was undertaken at to strengthen the castle against the Welsh attacks.

During the Second Barons' War the castle came for a time the headquarters of the baronial party headed by Simon de Montfort. During the Civil War Herefordshire was very much a Royalist stronghold but the castle does not appear to have played a significant part. It was eventually sold to Sir Richard Harley and several of his friends but it then went into decline. Most of what remained of the castle seems to have been destroyed in the 1650s and the stone used for other buildings within the city.

In 1833 the Castle Green (which had been the bailey of the castle) was leased to the city council for a period of 200 years. The council is still responsible today for the maintenance and upkeep of the area in its present form of a recreation area.