England · Ruin
Castle Hill
Castle Hill (Mere Castle) was a mid-13th-century stone fortification erected by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, on a flattened chalk ridge above the town of Mere in Wiltshire. Originally it had a rectangular plan with six towers, inner buildings, gates, a hall, chapel and a deep well; it was abandoned in the 14th century and later stripped of its stone. Only earthworks and a few traces remain today; the site is a scheduled monument owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.
Its prime
1300
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1300
What Castle Hill looked like in its prime.
Perched on a flattened, scarped chalk ridge, the castle was a rectangular stone-built stronghold with a continuous curtain wall punctuated by six towers. The west side was protected by a roughly five-metre-deep ditch cut into the slope and the main approaches ran up the south side. Within the walls were clustered inner buildings including a great hall, a chapel and service ranges arranged around an inner courtyard, and a deep well served the site.
Its story
The story of Castle Hill.
Castle Hill, also called Mere Castle, was built in 1253 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who had acquired the manor of Mere ten years earlier. Set on a flattened chalk ridge above the Wiltshire town, it was a stone castle of rectangular plan with six towers, inner buildings, gates, a hall, a chapel and a deep well.
Edward II gave the castle to his royal favourite Piers Gaveston, whom he made Earl of Cornwall. After Edward's fall from power in 1327, John, his second son, took possession as the new Earl of Cornwall. The castle was abandoned in the 14th century and stripped of its stone and metalwork.
Only earthworks and a few traces remain. The site is a scheduled monument owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and leased to the local parish council, and a ceremony is still held on the castle site each Easter.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1300.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Castle Hill, including 5 interiors: inner gate and entrance passage (interior threshold), inner bailey / central courtyard (interior), great hall (interior) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Castle Hill on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
SITE OF CAMBRIDGE CASTLE AS IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
1897 · J. D. Mackenzie, The Castles of England, vol. 1 (1897)
Public domain
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