DESCRIPTION OF GLEASTON CASTLE

This castle is quadrangular with the north end wider than the south; it has four corner turrets with connecting curtain walls, to form a bailey approximately 170 feet wide at the north and 120 feet at the south. The high walls are about nine feet thick, although the lime mortar was of poor quality and much has crumbled into little more than heaps. At the high, north-west corner stood the keep, 90 feet by 50 feet, and some sections about 30 feet high remain, indicating that it was probably of two storeys and had a cellar. In the west wall there is a postern gate and there was a semi-circular bastion, although this has largely collapsed. At the south-west end of the wall is another tower which is square and has a basement and three upper storeys - 43 feet overall. It has a spiral staircase leading up the battlements, and there are some garderobes. To the south-east is another, larger tower connected by the curtain wall but most of the north tower and wall have gone. The land went, after the Conquest, to Ernulph, who gave much of it to a Fleming named Michael. In the 16th Century it went to the Grey family and so it was the home of the ill fated, short-reigned Queen Jane. The lands were forfeited to the Crown after her execution.