Leicester Castle

Leicester Castle
Leicester Castle
Leicestershire
	The Great Hall
Site information
Type	Norman
Open to; the public	everyday
Location
	Leicester Castle Shown within Leicestershire
Coordinates	52°37′56.4″N 1°8′28.3″W / 52.632333°N 1.141194°W
Site history
Built	11th century
Built by	William the Conqueror
In use	Law court
Scheduled monument
Official name	Leicester Castle and the Magazine Gateway
Designated	26 June 1924
Reference no.	1012147

340m
371yds

Newarke Houses

Market

Castle

Map of central Leicester showing Leicester Castle's place (shown in green) among the key sites of Leicester old town. The Roman and medieval walls are marked by the dotted line. The churches are marked in red, the monasteries in black, secular buildings in blue, and the one surviving Roman ruin in purple.

Leicester Castle is in the city of the same name in the English county of Leicestershire. The complex is situated in the west of Leicester City Centre, between Saint Nicholas Circle to the north and De Montfort University to the south. A large motte, the Great Hall, the Church of St Mary de Castro, and the ruined Turret Gateway are the substantial remains of what was once a large set of defensive and residential structures. It was historically the seat of the Earls of Leicester, from 1107-1175 under the House of Beaumont, from 1239 to 1265 under the House of Montfort, and after 1267 with the House of Lancaster when the Earldoms of Leicester and Lancaster were combined. The Castle's Great Hall served for centuries as the home of Leicester County Assizes and is encased in a Queen Anne style frontage. The Castle is a scheduled monument.