The first castle built at Bristol was a timber motte and bailey, presumably erected on the command of William the Conqueror, who owned Bristol. One of William's closest allies, Geoffrey de Montbray, Bishop of Coutances, appears to have had control of the castle. The Domesday Book notes that he received part of the king's income from the borough. The castle is first mentioned in 1088, when Geoffrey used it as a base in his rebellion against William Rufus.[1]
Bristol Castle from James Millerd's
map of Bristol in 1673
After William triumphed, the English lands of the rebels were redistributed to his loyal followers. Among them was Robert Fitzhamon, who gained a large swathe of Gloucestershire, including Bristol Castle. His eldest daughter Mabel married Robert, illegitimate son of Henry I. She brought him the honour of Gloucester on the death of her father in 1107.[2] So he is generally known as Robert of Gloucester.
By this time many of the first wave of Norman timber castles were being replaced in stone. Bristol Castle was a fine example with curtain walls and a great keep. It seems that Robert of Gloucester was the man responsible. His great fortress was to play a key role in the civil wars that followed the death of Henry I.
Henry's only legitimate son William drowned in 1120, so Henry eventually declared his one legitimate daughter Matilda his heir. However her cousin, Stephen of Blois usurped the throne on Henry's death in 1135. Matilda's half-brother Robert of Gloucester became her trusted right-hand man - the commander of her troops. Rebels rallied to his castle at Bristol.
Stephen reconnoitred Bristol in 1138 but decided that the town was impregnable. As his chronicler reported: "On one side of it, where it is considered more exposed to siege and more accessible, a castle rising on a vast mound, strengthened by wall and battlements, towers and divers engines, prevents an enemy's approach." [3] After Stephen was captured in 1141, he was imprisoned in Bristol Castle until Robert of Gloucester was also captured and an exchange of prisoners was made.[4]
The castle was later taken into royal hands.[5] Henry III spent lavishly on it, adding a barbican before the main west gate, a gate tower, and magnificent hall.[6]
The two young sons of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last princes of the Gwynedd, were imprisoned for life in Bristol Castle after Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1283.
The first detailed description of the castle was written in 1480.[7] By the time the antiquary John Leland visited c.1540, Bristol castle was showing signs of neglect. It had "two courts, and in the north-west part of the outer court there is a large keep with a dungeon, said to have been built of stone brought by the red Earl of Gloucester from Caen in Normandy. In the other court is an attractive church and many domestic quarters, with a great gate on the south side, a stone bridge and three ramparts on the left bank leading to the mouth of the Frome. Many towers still stand in both the courts, but they are all on the point of collapse."[8]
The castle was demolished in 1656, according to Millerd's map of Bristol (above). However one octagonal tower survived until it was torn down in 1927. It was sketched by Samuel Loxton in 1907 [9]
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