Leicester Castle

Leicester Castle
Leicestershire
The Great Hall
Leicester Castle Shown within Leicestershire
Coordinates	52°37′56.4″N 1°8′28.3″W / 52.632333°N 1.141194°W / 52.632333; -1.141194
Type	Norman
Site information
Open to the public	everyday
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

500m
550yds

Leicester Castle

  

Map of central Leicester. The dotted line shows the line of the medieval town walls.

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.^[1]