Baynard's Castle

Baynard’s Castle stood where the old Roman walls met the River Fleet and the Thames, just east of today’s Blackfriars station. The first building was a Norman fort built by Ralph Baynard after the Conquest. King John demolished it in 1213 after the barons’ revolt led by Robert Fitzwalter. A second castle was built a little south-east on land reclaimed from the river. This later became a royal palace rebuilt by Henry VII and used by Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon. The site’s importance comes from its position at the junction of Roman walls, the Fleet and the Thames. Ralph Baynard’s fort stood inside the Roman river wall, parts of which remain visible. The later palace hosted the Yorkist court during the Wars of the Roses and saw Edward IV proclaimed king there in 1461. Henry VII turned it into a royal residence before giving it to Katherine of Aragon. After the Civil War it passed to the Earl of Shrewsbury and was ruined in the Great Fire. Visitors today find no standing castle, only fragments built into later buildings. Castle Baynard Street and the ward name recall the site. Nearby St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe marks the church once beside the Norman fort. The river Fleet now runs underground, but its old course shaped the castle’s strategic position. A BT office occupies part of the ground, while archaeologists have traced stretches of the medieval defences. The remains lie close to Blackfriars Bridge and the modern station, linking past and present along the Thames.