Castle Studies Trust

12/07/2026

Those of you who travel up and down the East Coast Mainline between London and Edinburgh will see as the travel through Newcastle the remains of what gave the city it's name, its medieval castle. Namely its stunning Romanesque great tower / keep and the Henry III gatehouse the Black Gate.

A major royal fortress from the 1080s there was much more to Newcastle Castle than remains today as the modern city and especially the railway destroyed many standing remains.

However thanks to 30 years of excavations from the 1960s to 1990s , led initially by Barbara Harbottle, much more has been discovered. Yet none of those excavations have been published. The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne (SANT), are changing that and led by their president Don O'Meara and aided by Richard Pears and John Nolan looking to publish the results co-fund by the Trust, Newcastle City Council and Castle Studies Group.

In our latest blog post Don, Richard and John explain what they are trying to do and its significance to the city and castle studies: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/07/12/rediscovering-newcastle-castle-publishing-30-years-of-historic-excavations/

03/07/2026

Support castle research — and gain exclusive access to the work you fund

Britain’s castles are among our most complex and revealing historic monuments — yet many remain under-researched, under-interpreted, and increasingly at risk.

At a time when heritage organisations and universities are facing significant funding cuts, the Castle Studies Trust plays a vital role in supporting rigorous, independent research into important castle sites and in sharing new knowledge with the wider public. Our work is entirely dependent on donations from individuals who value serious scholarship and long-term stewardship.

We are therefore inviting new supporters to join us by setting up a regular donation.

To encourage this, a long-standing supporter of the Trust has generously agreed to match any new regular donations over the next twelve months, up to a total of £2,000 (excluding Gift Aid). This means that your support can have double the impact, immediately strengthening our ability to fund high-quality research.

A regular gift of £5 per month helps us plan ahead and increase the size and number of grants we can award.

Supporters giving £60 or more per year (excluding Gift Aid) are also invited to attend all Trust-funded project visits — including at least five this autumn — offering exclusive access to sites and first-hand insight from the leading experts involved, often before findings are published.

As Dan MacGuill, who began supporting the Trust last year, explains:

“As heritage funding struggles grow and research costs continue to rise, there is ever more need for and value in the continued excellence of the projects the Castle Studies Trust facilitates.”

Alistair and Morag Fyfe add:

“We look forward to the Trust’s project visits each year. They introduce us to fascinating sites and offer a wonderful opportunity to learn directly from leading experts, before results are published. I do hope you will consider supporting the Trust in this way and helping to sustain the future of castle research.”

You can set up a regular donation online via our Kindlink page https://donate.kindlink.com/castle-studies-trust/2245, or, if you prefer, by standing order using the details below.

Standing Order Details
Sort Code: 08-92-99
Account Number: 65578807
Account Name: Castle Studies Trust (Registered Charity 1148165)

If you are a UK taxpayer and would like the Trust to claim Gift Aid, please contact our Treasurer, Charles Hollwey, at [email protected].

We do hope you will consider supporting the Trust in this way and helping to sustain the future of castle research.

Best wishes

Castle Studies Trust

28/06/2026

Following the, in many ways, improbable success of the First Crusade in 1099 with the successful and brutal siege of Jerusalem, the Crusaders continued to expand the area of land they controlled in the following two decades to create what became known as the Crusader States. Yet that suddenly stopped in the 1120s. Why?

In our latest guest post Nicholas Morton explains why: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/06/28/the-role-of-siege-warfare-in-halting-the-crusader-advance-the-challenge-of-the-big-cities/

21/06/2026

Rising above the rolling landscape of Aberdeenshire, Fyvie Castle is the quintessential Scottish fairytale castle. Its pink harled walls, ornate towers and landscaped grounds draw thousands of visitors from the nearby A96 each year.

Yet what you see today doesn't resemble what the castle was like when it was like when it was founded 7 centuries ago or indeed in it's more recent past. To help bring the castle to life for its 1000s of visitors each year, we have funded National Trust for Scotland to commission 6 drawings by Jan Dunbar of what the castle was like at 6 key periods of its history.

Below, Alice Connelly from National Trust for Scotland archaeology team to explain more, including how they are planning to do this in our latest blog post: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/06/21/reimagining-fyvie-castle/

21/06/2026

Here's an interesting piece on Lincoln castle from the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1ey6le4vz9o

Back in 2020 we funded a reconstruction drawing of how it might have looked in the early 12th century.

14/06/2026

Following two successful Parliamentary sieges of Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, during the English Civil War the castle was ordered to be systematically slighted. This seemed to be confirmed by primary documentary sources, which included depositions taken from five craftsmen stating that the castle had been fully destroyed which had been signed off by two judges from Gloucester, Edward Slaughter and Robert Megge

However new scientific tests, dendro dating (tree ring analysis) carried out by Gloucestershire Historic Buildings Group and funded by the Trust, have shown this doesn’t seem to be the case. To learn more read here: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/06/14/tree-ring-dating-of-previously-unidentified-elizabethan-roofs-at-sudeley-castle/

09/06/2026

For all castle fans in and around the Chester area and even for those further afield this event on Saturday 20 June looks an absolute must, with a great line up of speakers::

Join English Heritage for a landmark day of discovery as we celebrate a new era of interpretation at Chester Castle.

07/06/2026

Castle Studies Trust Increases Maximum Grant Award to £15,000

The Castle Studies Trust is delighted to announce that for our next round of grants, which will open in September, we will be increasing the maximum grant award to £15,000.

The Trust awards grants to advance our understanding of castles and the type of projects we fund are:
• Site-based survey work (e.g. geophysical, architectural, topographical, -LiDAR)
• Excavations
• Scientific tests on objects/materials from a castle site (e.g. radiocarbon dating)
• Review of historical sources (only as part of a Castle Studies Trust funded project)
• Pieces of work, such as reconstruction drawings, which would help the public understanding of a castle site.

Applications open on 1 September 2026 and close on 1 December 2026 and for more information, including an application form you can go here: https://castlestudiestrust.org/Grants.html

If you have any questions about possible applications please contact the chair of trustees Jeremy Cunnington on admin at castlesudiestrust dot org.

31/05/2026

We have a Tower House problem, or so says Dr Sarah Kerr of University College Cork and one of our expert grant assessor says in a guest article for our latest blog. To find out what she means and her thoughts on solving them, read here: https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/05/31/the-tower-house-problem/

17/05/2026

"So you would like to extend the amount of accommodation in the inner ward my Lord? May I suggest building over the existing moat?"

In his latest piece for our blog, project lead Tom Addyman explains what he and the team learnt from their second visit to survey the inner ward of Cockermouth Castle including the importance of archival research. The inner ward seems to have multiple phases dating to earlier than previously thought:
https://castlestudiestrust.org/blog/2026/05/17/cockermouth-castle-building-survey-diary-update-2/