There has been a castle, or fortified encampment, at Lancaster since Roman times, but the existing castle was begun after the Norman Conquest by Roger de Poictou, upon whom King William I had bestowed lands at Lancaster. The keep he built is eighty feet square and stands at the north west corner of the castle enclosure. Later additions to the castle included walls and a moat, the moat has since been built over, the Shire Hall and the terrace stand over much of it now.

The Shire Hall was built around 1796-98 as a court room for the Assizes, Quarter Sessions, Petty Sessions and County Courts. The walls hold a magnificent collection of Heraldic Shields, comprising those of the Sovereigns of England, the Constables of the Castle, and the High Sheriffs of Lancashire, and date from 1129. Also adorning the walls are Javelins presented by past High Sheriffs or their descendants, and represent the weapons carried by the men who escorted the Judges and High Sheriffs around the County for the Assizes.

The Crown Court dates from around 1798 and it is said that there have been more people sentenced to death at this Court than any other in the Kingdom. In the dock can still be seen the holdfast (a sort of clamp) and branding iron in the shape of the letter M (for malefactor), a convicted felon being made to insert his left hand into the holdfast whilst the redhot iron was applied to it, thus branding him a malefactor for life. The last recorded use of this branding iron was in 1811.

Other parts of the Castle open to the public include the Barristers Libraries containing Law Books dating back to 1602, and Statutes from 1225; the Dungeons, and the Drop Room, from where those condemned to death by hanging where led out to the scaffold. The last public execution at the Castle was in 1865.

A sizeable part of the Castle is, however, not open to the general public, it being used as a prison. The sections occupied by HMP Lancaster Castle include some of the oldest parts, upon the walls of which can be seen graffiti left behind from the days of Bonnie Prince Charlie and even earlier.

On the other pages of this small site may be found details of the Dukes of Lancaster, the Constables of Lancaster Castle and the High Sheriffs of Lancashire from earliest times until 1947.

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