Bedford Castle

Bedford Castle stands on a motte beside the River Great Ouse in the centre of Bedford. Built after 1100 by Henry I, it was a motte-and-bailey fortress that later grew into a stone castle. The town’s medieval street grid was reshaped to make room for its walls and baileys. By the 12th century the castle was held by the Beauchamp family, who defended it during the Anarchy. Stephen besieged it in 1137, and Henry II’s forces damaged the town in 1153. The castle’s greatest moment came in 1224 when Henry III besieged it for eight weeks. An army of up to 2,700 men used engines brought from Lincoln, Northampton and Oxfordshire. Miners from Hereford and the Forest of Dean dug beneath the walls while carpenters built new siege towers on site. Falkes de Bréauté’s brother William refused to surrender, and the king ordered 43,300 crossbow bolts from depots across England. After the castle fell, Henry commanded it to be slighted. Today only part of the motte remains, surrounded by an archaeological park laid out between 2007 and 2009. The mound is all that survives of the once massive keep and baileys. Interpretive panels mark the line of the great hall, which measured at least 13 m by 40 m. Visitors walk among the earthworks and ditches that once protected the inner and outer baileys. The riverside postern gate once gave access to boats on the Great Ouse.