Clitheroe Castle

Clitheroe Castle in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England is a motte and bailey castle built on a natural carboniferous limestone outcrop.

It has been suggested that Clitheroe Castle may have been first built before 1086 as there is reference to the "castellatu Rogerii pictaviensis" in the Domesday Book. However, it is likely the passage refers to another castle. One alternative is that it was built around 1186 by Robert de Lacy as an administrative centre for his estates in the area but later passed by inheritance to the Crown. It consists of one of the smallest keeps in the country and at one time it was surrounded by a curtain wall. It was anciently the seat of the Lords of Bowland.

A document from 1304 mentions ditches and moats surrounding the castle, however these have since been filled in.

There is a legend that the Devil threw a boulder from Pendle Hill and hit the castle creating the hole visible in its side today, but this hole was made in 1649 as ordered by the government. It was to be put in "such condition that in might neither be a charge to the Commonwealth to keep it, nor a danger to have it kept against them".

Clitheroe Castle Museum
Clitheroe Castle Museum can be found in the Steward's House built in the 18th century. It is a museum of local history. The museum underwent a £3.5-million refurbishment, starting in 2007 and open to the public in May 2009. Today the castle is freely open to the public and in the bailey is the Clitheroe Castle Museum, which does have an admission charge.