England · Ruin
Pilsbury Castle
Pilsbury Castle was a Norman motte-and-bailey castle on a limestone outcrop overlooking the River Dove near the village of Pilsbury in Derbyshire. The earthwork site comprises a central motte with two adjacent bailey enclosures, ditches and other defensive banks; by the 20th century only mounds and earthworks remained and the site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Its prime
1150
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1150
The shape it held in its prime.
A compact motte-and-bailey complex on a limestone outcrop: a conical earthen motte beside two roughly oval baileys about 40 m and 45 m across, all surrounded by steep ditches and packed earth ramparts. At its prime the defences were timber: a palisade around the motte summit and wooden fencing and buildings within the baileys. The site sits above the River Dove valley, with the motte commanding views toward the river crossing and surrounding pasture.
Its story
The story of Pilsbury Castle.
The land around Pilsbury was granted to Henry de Ferrers by King William, and after the area's devastation in the harrying of the North, the motte-and-bailey castle may have been built by Henry to establish control. An alternative reading places its construction under Robert de Ferrers or his father during the Anarchy, when the de Ferrers backed King Stephen while the neighbouring Earl of Chester supported Empress Matilda.
The castle was later abandoned — perhaps destroyed after William de Ferrers' part in the Revolt of 1173–74, or simply given up when the land passed to the Duchy of Lancaster after the sixth Earl was dispossessed. What survives on the limestone outcrop above the River Dove is earthwork: a central motte, two bailey enclosures, ditches and defensive banks, protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1150.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Pilsbury Castle — including the full exterior approach. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Pilsbury Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1150 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Pilsbury Castle.
The families that held Pilsbury Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
de Ferrers
Held by the de Ferrers from King William's grant to Henry de Ferrers until the land passed to the Duchy of Lancaster after the sixth Earl was dispossessed.
