England · Partial ruin
Trowbridge Castle
Trowbridge Castle was a medieval motte-and-bailey castle in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. Very little survives today beyond an earthwork ditch and a fragment of medieval wall discovered in the 20th century; the site has been built over by the later town.
Its prime
1139
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1139
What Trowbridge Castle looked like in its prime.
A compact motte-and-bailey ensemble: a raised earthen motte topped by a timber palisade and a small timber keep, with an adjacent enclosed bailey of clustered timber domestic and service buildings. The bailey is ringed by a defensive ditch that runs along what is now Fore Street, and at least one low stone curtain runs along the bailey edge. The whole complex sits within the medieval town, the motte dominating the surrounding streets.
Its story
The story of Trowbridge Castle.
Trowbridge Castle was most likely built by Humphrey I de Bohun in the early 1100s, before his death around 1123, and is thought to have been a motte-and-bailey castle. Writing in 1670, Aubrey referred to it as a "ruinated castle of the Dukes of Lancaster".
Though the castle itself has vanished beneath the later town, its influence still shapes Trowbridge: Fore Street follows the path of the castle ditch, and the town keeps a Castle Street and the Castle Place Shopping Centre. The only surviving remains are the ditch along Fore Street and a possible fragment of curtain wall found in 1986.
Step inside
6 places to explore in 1139.
The record describes 6 distinct spots at Trowbridge Castle — including 1 interior: former anglo-saxon church inside the castle. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Create History
Recreate Trowbridge Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1139 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Whose castle
Clans who held Trowbridge Castle.
The families that held Trowbridge Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
de Bohun
Most likely built by Humphrey I de Bohun in the early 1100s.
Lancaster
Described by Aubrey in 1670 as a "ruinated castle of the Dukes of Lancaster".
Nearby
