Lancaster Castle: Crimes and Misdemeanors (Lancaster in General)

Member Name: collingwood21

Product:	Lancaster in General
Date:	27/09/04 (212 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value for money, Fascinating guide, Tours daily

Disadvantages: Not suitable for those who cannot walk up steps or on uneven surfaces

English Heritage has described Lancaster Castle as “not only the north-west’s most important historic and archaeological monument, but also of international importance”. I’d say this was a pretty fair description, given that the castle is not just huge and visually impressive, but also represents a major complex of historical buildings of Grade 1 listed status, with parts dating back as far as the 11th century. Given the rich and exciting history attached to this building, though, I continue to be surprised by how low key it is as a tourist attraction. Many people will recognise the castle as a working court and prison, yet few seem to realise that there is a back door for visitors to the building as well – I’m not going to complain about tour groups being small, mind, I just feel there must be many people missing out on this rather hidden treat. Indeed, I hadn’t realised you could visit the castle until I chanced upon a random leaflet at a local museum, nor was I aware of just how important and strategic a site it was, despite being pretty well up on the history and archaeology of northern England (after all, I have a BSc in Knowing Too Much For My Own Good). ;-)

The castle, like all good castles, occupies a hill. This is not to give tourists some much-needed exercise (although it does rather feel like that), but instead to make the site easily defendable, an important thing when you consider that in Lancaster you are not all that far away from marauding Welsh and Scots. The site had formerly been used as a fortification by both Romans and Saxons, but the earliest part of the castle complex that is still visible today is the keep, which was completed in 1090. This was built by a chap called Roger of Poitou, who was given the city and its surrounding lands by William the Conqueror, by way of thanks for his services in battle (which I suppose provides one answer to the question of what you get the man who has everything). Unfortunately, the keep is one part that cannot be visited as it forms part of the prison complex that is housed in the castle.

Following Roger of Poitou, the castle passed through a number of noble families, ending up as the seat of the Duke of Lancaster in the 14th century. When the 3rd Duke acceded to the throne as Henry IV, the Duchy of Lancaster became part of the monarch’s estates, where they have remained for the past 600 years. This means that the castle is currently owned by the Queen in her role as the “Duke” of Lancaster. Her castle is pretty impressive, as well. To the original keep, 12th century expansions were added, then a tower in the 14th century, a gatehouse in the 15th century, the Shire Hall in the 18th century, and a penitentiary for female prisoners in the 19th century, not to mention an almost continuous programme of minor changes, repairs, replacements and extensions over the years. This has left the building as a bizarre mixture of different architectural styles, and even today nobody is quite sure of all that is in it – there is a steady stream of archaeological work to try and figure out the exact components and extent of the castle. I don’t know about you, but this all makes me rather glad that Lancaster is only a category C prison!

As a visitor to Lancaster Castle, you need to present yourself at a small and rather inconspicuous doorway at the back of the castle (the side facing the priory) for a guided tour. Needless to say, with the building being a working prison, self-guided tours are out of the question! The tours themselves last around an hour and leave every half hour between 10.30am and 4pm every day – however, you should be aware that as the tour includes some of the working parts of the building, if courts are in session then your tour will be restricted to the rooms that are not in use (you are advised to phone ahead and check before you go on a tour, number at the end of this review). The tours cost a pretty reasonable £4 for adults and a very generous £2.50 for the young, the old and the studious. There is a small gift shop for you to browse around while you wait for your tour to start, but no other visitor facilities – so my advice is to eat, drink and use the toilets in the city centre (about 5 minutes walk away) before you visit.

The guide that took my group around was very friendly and knowledgeable about the castle, and managed to tell us about the building with boundless enthusiasm, despite the fact it must have been the 400th time that he was going through his material. Indeed, there were places where he was talking rather fast just to get everything across to us; I got the impression he knew so much that the tour could easily have stretched to another 30 minutes. I would have been quite happy for it to as well, especially as I was lucky enough to visit when there was no court in session to inconvenience my tour.

Our first stopping place was the Shire Hall, a huge 10-sided room that contains the biggest display of heraldry in the country. The display numbers over 600 shields, including those of the monarchs who have owned the castle, the High Sheriffs of Lancaster and the Constables of the Castle; the display grows every year with the ceremony of the hanging of the shield of the High Sheriff. The hall is also used as a civil court, although this was actually the room where the famous case of the “Birmingham Six” was tried, and you can still see the specially built dock that remains from this case. Moving on, you are taken through the thick Norman curtain wall into Hadrian’s Tower, a very early part of the castle that was built upon the original Roman fortifications. This room houses a Roman altar to the God Mars that was found during building work in the 18th century, as well as examples of shackles worn by prisoners, some of which you can pick up and handle yourself.

The most sinister part of the tour takes the visitor down into the dungeons of the castle, a section that was only rediscovered in 1931 (see what I mean about not knowing the full extent of the building?). The earliest reference to the castle being used as a prison was from 1196, which means that the building has been in continuous use as a gaol for just over 800 years, and that the castle has been the longest serving prison that is still in use in all of Europe. These particular cells date from the 17th century, when prisoners were incarcerated without light or sanitation for much of the time – you can try being locked in one yourself for a couple of minutes if you want, although being somewhat claustrophobic I declined our guide’s polite offer to experience this first hand.

The final section of the tour takes us through the courtrooms if they are not in session, including the Crown Court, which is the oldest working courtroom in Britain. This room also holds the dubious distinction of being the place where most of Britain’s death sentences have been handed down over the years; 265 of them in total, of which only 43 were for murder (the others being for offences such as passing forged notes or stealing cattle). The holdfast and branding iron that was used to mark those found guilty is still to be seen in this room – the convicted person would have their left hand strapped into the holdfast and be branded with an M (for “malefactor” or wrongdoer) as a visible sign that they had a criminal record. This practice is apparently where the tradition of raising your left hand if you appear in court comes from!

Overall, this was a thoroughly satisfying tour and a well spent hour. The tour for me could have been a little bit longer, but I think for most people it is just the right length to provide interesting information without overloading or boring you. I think it represents good value for money, and I would reckon it would be suitable for older children (say 10 and upwards) as well as adults; it might be a bit dull or too gruesome for younger ones, though. I should also mention that the age and listed status of the building means that there is no wheelchair access around the tour, so if you want to go on it make sure you can walk and stand for a hour, and cope with a lot of stairs and some uneven floors.


And Finally…some interesting points I couldn’t fit into my review:

- Lancashire Castle was where the infamous Pendle Witches were held, tried and convicted during the religious persecution of King James 1.

- Public hangings at the castle were a popular day out for the people of the North West, with as many as 6000 people visiting them. The last public hanging was in 1865.

- The last non-public hanging was in 1910.

- Boys as young as 9 have been held in the prison for hard labour, right until the end of the nineteenth century.


Further information:
Lancaster Castle
Castle Parade
Lancaster
Lancashire
LA1 1YJ

Phone: 01524-64998

Web: www.lancastercastle.com
www.priory.lancs.ac.uk/castle.html

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