Malmesbury Castle

Malmesbury Castle once stood in the town of Malmesbury in Wiltshire. The town was an important trading centre in the early medieval period and the site of Malmesbury Abbey. In the early 12th century Bishop Roger of Salisbury built a motte and bailey castle near the abbey and the church. The castle became involved in the civil war known as the Anarchy when King Stephen seized it from the bishop in 1139. Stephen’s forces later recaptured the castle after a local baron briefly took it. During the Anarchy the castle was used by royal troops to raid the surrounding countryside, which drew complaints from chroniclers. In 1144 Robert of Gloucester tried to besiege the castle but failed to capture it. The castle remained in royal hands until the future Henry II took it in 1153 near the end of the civil war. By the reign of King John the monks asked for the castle to be destroyed, and it was demolished in the early 13th century. No visible remains of the castle survive today. Archaeologists have not yet pinpointed its exact location within the modern town. The site is now part of the historic landscape of Malmesbury, where the abbey and the town’s medieval streets still stand. Visitors can walk the old routes that once led to the castle and imagine its former presence. The town’s heritage trail includes information about the castle’s role in local history.