In the 11th century, York was a Viking capital in the 10th century and continued as an important northern city in the 11th century. In 1068, on William the Conqueror’s first northern expedition after the Norman Conquest, he built a number of castles across the...

Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury in England. Located on a hill about 2 miles north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest records in the country.   The great monoliths of...

Arundel Castle is a restored and remodeled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror. The castle was...

Letocetum is the ancient remains of a Roman settlement. It was an important military staging post and posting station near the junction of Watling Street, the Roman military road to North Wales, and Icknield (or Ryknild) Street (now the A38). The site is now within...

The stone circle at Castlerigg is situated near Keswick in Cumbria, North West England. One of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany, it was constructed as a part of a megalithic tradition that lasted from 3,300 to 900 BC, during the...

Bungay Castle is in the town of Bungay, Suffolk by the River Waveney.   Originally this was a Norman castle built by Roger Bigod of Norfolk, around 1100, which took advantage of the protection given by the curve of the River Waveney. Roger’s son, Hugh...

Kenilworth CastleKenilworth Castle was founded in the early 1120s by Geoffrey de Clinton, Lord Chamberlain, and treasurer to Henry I. The castle’s original form is uncertain. It has been suggested that it consisted of a motte, an earthen mound surmounted by wooden buildings; however, the...

Castle Acre Castle was built by William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, in the manor of Acre during the 1070s. William was a Norman lord who had accompanied William the Conqueror in the conquest of England in 1066; he was rewarded with extensive estates...

Lincoln Castle is a major Norman castle constructed in Lincoln, England, during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is one of only two such...

Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, owned by Queen Elizabeth II. It is near the village of Crathie, 9 miles west of Ballater and 50 miles west of Aberdeen.     Balmoral has been one of the residences of...

Inverlochy Castle is a ruined, 13th-century castle near Inverlochy and Fort William, Highland, Scotland. The site of two battles, the castle remains largely unchanged since its construction.   Inverlochy Castle was built circa 1270–1280 by John “the Black” Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lochaber, and...

Goodrich Castle is a Norman medieval castle ruin north of the village of Goodrich in Herefordshire, England, controlling a key location between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye. It was praised by William Wordsworth as the “noblest ruin in Herefordshire” and is considered by historian Adrian Pettifer to...