Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for WALLINGFORD CASTLE

WALLINGFORD CASTLE, an extra-parochial precinct in Wallingford district, Berks; at W. town. Pop., 30. Houses, 5. Astrong castle here was reconstructed, by William the Conqueror, on the site of a previous Saxon castle; was held by-Brian Fitzcount for the Empress Maud; received the Empress on occasion of her flight from Oxford; sustained a siege by Stephen against her, from a castle built by him on the opposite side of the river: was. relieved by Henry II., and was the place of the treaty which put an end to the war between Maud and Stephen: reverted to the Crown at the death of Brian Fitzcount; was the place of a conference between King John and his barons; was the birthplace of John's son, the Earl of Cornwall, and was afterwards given to him, and was the place where he kept his honeymoon; went, in the time of Edward II., to Piers Gaveston, and afterwards to the Despencers; was the death-place of the Black Prince's. wife, Joan; was given to Henry V.'s widow, Catherine, and by Henry VIII. to Wolsey; was garrisoned for Charles I. in 1644, and taken by Fairfax in 1646; was. then dismantled; and is now represented by only small remains, chiefly the fragment of a walland an oriel window.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "an extra-parochial precinct"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Wallingford RegD/PLU       Berkshire AncC
Place: Wallingford

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.