West Derby Castle

West Derby Castle stands in the old village of West Derby, now part of Liverpool. It was a Norman timber motte-and-bailey fortress built on a raised mound with a deep moat around it. The castle was raised in 1100 by Roger de Poitou soon after the Norman Conquest. Repairs were carried out several times in the early 13th century. By 1297 the site had been abandoned and left to decay. The castle’s decline began when Liverpool was founded in 1207. A garrison of 140 soldiers moved to the new Liverpool Castle in 1235. After the Ferrers family lost their lands in 1266, the Crown took control of the estate. West Derby Castle was finally levelled about 1817 by the local lord of the manor. Today only cropmarks and underground ruins remain. Excavations in the 1930s found timber remnants. In 1927 and 1956 oak beams and old pottery were uncovered. A 2022 dig along Meadow Lane traced the moat once more. The site is quiet, with no standing walls, yet it still tells the story of a castle that once guarded this part of Merseyside.