Castle Expenditure, 1199-1216

Below is a working list of castles where 'works' were mentioned in the pipe rolls of King John (1199-1216). The criteria for inclusion in this list has been the use of the Latin word oper and its dirivitives. This has specifically discluded all references to repairs and amendments to obviously existing structures. These appear in the second table below. The earlier tables on the works of Henry II (1154-89) and the works of King Richard (1189-99) should be consulted for further comments on this subject.

King John is said to have spent over £1,000 each year of his reign on castles. During this time 77 castles appear as having work done to them. Over £500 was recorded as being spent on ‘works' in the pipe rolls on Corfe, Hanley, Horsley/Horton and Sauvey, while just under this amount was spent on Dover and Norham. Over £1,000 was spent on each of Kenilworth, Knaresborough and Odiham castles, while over £2,000 was spent on Scarborough. Beaulieu abbey has been included in this list as nearly £800 was spent here according to the pipe rolls and this therefore makes an interesting comparison to the other sites as royal expenditures on abbeys have not generally been kept.

King John seemed interested on maintaining his castles, with over £100 being spent on Bamburgh, Canterbury (£96 5s 4d), Carlisle, Colchester, Kenilworth, Luggershall, Marlborough, Northampton, Oxford, Salisbury, Sherborne and Winchester out of 73 mentioned castles. It would also appear that many royal castles had a standard maintenance rate applied to them for repairs and amendments - the figure of £5 cropping up regularly. The fact that in the surviving first six months of the 1215 year there are mainly 50s (£2 10s) entries for castle maintenance would suggest again that £5 was nominally regularly spent on many castles whether this was recorded in the pipe rolls or not. The case of Carlisle castle shows that this amount was often taken by the sheriff for maintenance that he never carried out. It also shows that it was not regularly entered in the pipe rolls. Why this was so would prove an interesting edification.

It is also apparent, from the lists for the reigns of these 3 Plantagenet kings, that maintenance on royal castles seemed to be skewed towards some favoured fortresses while others were ignored. Whether these were from personal or strategic considerations, or simply an administrative quirk meant that many such expenditures were not recorded, is now impossible to say, although all eventualities appear possible.

It is intended to make a similar trawl through the close and patent rolls of King John and to compare these to the figures given in his pipe rolls for castle expenditure. It is expected that the 2 will not tally and this, as already discussed, suggests that the figures given in the pipe roll only account for part of the royal expenditure on fortifications.

Works on Castles, 1199 to 1216

Castle	Years	Expenditure	Amount per Year
Bamburgh	1201, 1212	£133 4d	£66 10s 2d
Beaulieu abbey	1204-05, 1211-12	£793 9d	£198 5s 2d
Berkhamsted keep	1214	£10	£10
Bolsover	1200, 1203, 1205-06, 1209, 1211-12	£100 12s 9d	£14 7s 6d
Bramber	1210	£93 4s 4d	£93 4s 4d
Bridgnorth	1206, 1209, 1212-14	£34 10s	£8 12s 6d
Bridgnorth keep	1207	£4 13s 4d	£4 13s 4d
Bristol	1210	£40	£40
Brough	1202	15s	15s
Cambridge	1207	£14 19s 4d	£14 19s 4d
Cardiff	1207-08	£30 17s 10d	£15 8s 11d
Carlisle	1199, 1202	£48 14s 7d	£24 7s 4d
Carreghofa	1212	£16 13s 4d	£16 13s 4d
Chichester	1200, 1203-04, 1214	£10 12s 3d	£2 13s 1d
Chirk	1212	£5	£5
Colchester	1210	£16	£16
Corfe	1200, 1202-04, 1210-11	£707 7s 5d	£117 17s 11d
Devizes	1199, 1206-07, 1212	£45 11s 4d	£11 7s 10d
Dorchester	1200	£20	£20
Dover	1209-10, 1212, 1214	£463 2s 9d	£115 15s 8d
Driffield	1212	£385 3s 9d	£385 3s 9d
Dunster	1200, 1202	£22 6d	£11 3d
Durham	1212	£18 5s 8d	£18 5s 8d
Exeter	1199, 1202, 1205-09, 1212, 1214	£184 18s	£20 10s 11d
Gloucester	1200, 1202, 1206	£27 4s 5d	£9 1s 6d
Grimsby	1200	£30	£30
Guildford	1201, 1205, 1212, 1214	£20 16s 6d	£5 4s 2d
Hanley Castle	1208-10, 1212	£644 5d	£322 3d
Hastings	1209, 1212	£35 18s 8d	£17 19s 4d
Hereford	1199-1200, 1202-05	£132 13s 1d	£22 2s 2d
Hertford	1210-12, 1214	£44 12s 1½d	£11 3s
Horston	1200-03, 1207, 1209, 1211	£791 8s 9d	£113 1s 3d
Kenilworth	1201, 1206, 1211-12, 1215	£1,007 6s 8d	£201 9s 4d
Knaresborough	1205-09, 1211-12, 1214	£1,320 9s 4½d	£165 1s 2d
Lancaster	1202-03, 1207, 1211	£218 18s 10d	£54 14s 9d
Launceston	1199, 1202-04, 1206	£12 7s 5d	£2 9s 6d
Lincoln	1199	£14 16s 3d	£14 16s 3d
Luggershall	1199, 1200, 1202, 1207, 1211	£75 9s 11d	£15 2s
Marlborough	1199, 1202-03, 1206-07, 1211	£143 12s 4d	£23 18s 9d
Mathrafal	1212	£18 19s 4d	£18 19s 4d
Neath	1207-08	£30 17s 10d	£15 8s 11d
Newcastle Bridgend	1207	£19 12s 10d	£19 12s 10d
Newcastle Under Lyme	1200-03, 1205, 1207, 1209, 1212	£154 11s 9d	£19 6s 6d
Newcastle on Tyne	1199, 1203, 1212	£160 6s 5d	£53 8s 10d
Norham	1211-12	£459 10s 2½d	£229 15s 1d
Northampton	1207-09, 1211	£179 14s 1½d	£44 18s 6d
Norwich	1205	£35	£35
Nottingham	1200-01, 1205-07	£272 5s 11d	£54 9s 2d
Odiham	1207-12, 1214	£1,030 19s 1d	£147 5s 7d
Orford	1202	£13 6s 8d	£13 6s 8d
Oxford	1202, 1209-12, 1214	£77 4s 11½d	£11 8d
Peak	1200, 1202, 1205, 1207, 1209, 1211-12	£145 5s 6d	£20 15s 1d
Pickering	1209	£44 18s 3½d	£44 18s 3½d
Portchester	1200, 1202-03, 1208, 1211	£54 15s 2d	£10 19s
Rochester	1202	£5	£5
Rockingham	1207, 1211	£198 14s 9d	£99 7s 5d
Ruthin	1212	£2	£2
St Briavels	1211	£291 12s 3d	£291 12s 3d
Salisbury	1201-02	£45 11s 10d	£22 15s 11d
Sauvey	1211	£442 13s 1d	£442 13s 1d
Scarborough	1203, 1205-08, 1210-12	£2,283 3s 10d	£285 8s
Sherborne	1202, 1204, 1207	£14 7s 7d	£4 15s 10d
Sherborne keep	1202	£6 13s 4d	£6 13s 4d
Shrawardine	1212, 1214	£37	£18 10s
Shrewsbury	1209, 1214	£9 10s	£4 15s
Southampton	1202, 1204, 1208, 1214	£266 5s 6d	£66 11s 5d
Stafford	1203	£2 5s	£2 5s
Swansea	1210	£33 6s 8d	£33 6s 8d
Tickhill	1202, 1204-07, 1214	£225 15s 8d	£37 12s 7d
Tower of London	1199-1200, 1203, 1206, 1212, 1214	£342 15s 6½d	£57 2s 7d
Tweedmouth	1211	£186 7s	£186 7s
Wallingford	1200-03, 1210	£31 13s 8d	£6 6s 9d
Wark	1199	£8	£8
West Derby	1202, 1215	£28 3d	£14 2d
Wilton	1205	£2 3s	£2 3s
Winchester	1200, 1203, 1211	£37	£12 6s 8d
Windsor	1199, 1201-03, 1205, 1208-09, 1212, 1214	£137 11s 1½d	£15 5s 8d
Worcester	1201, 1203-4, 1209-10	£74 3s 7d	£14 16s 9d
Yale	1212	£9 6s 8d	£9 6s 8d

Castle	Years	Expenditure	Amount per Year
Appleby	1199-1200	£19 14s 3d	£9 17s 2d
Bamburgh	1200, 1202-04, 1206, 1208-09	£110 13s 9d	£15 16s 3d
Berkhamsted	1201-02, 1204, 1214	£82 8d	£20 10s 2d
Bolsover	1199, 1201-02, 1204, 1208-09, 1214-15	£23 14s 8d	£2 19s 4d
Bridgnorth	1199-1200, 1202-05	£75 11s 10d	£12 12s
Bridgnorth keep	1206	£5	£5
Bristol	1199, 1202, 1204-05	£37 11d	£9 5s 3d
Brough	1199-1200	£18 14s 3d	£9 7s 2d
Cambridge	1201-06, 1208-09, 1212, 1214	£35 18s 1d	£3 11s 10d
Canterbury	1199-1206, 1214-15	£96 5s 4d	£9 12s 6d
Cardigan	1205	£13 6s 8d	£13 6s 8d
Carlisle	1203-04	£177 14s 10d	£88 17s 5d
Chichester	1199, 1202, 1205, 1210, 1212, 1215	£11 7s 7d	£1 17s 11d
Chilham	1199	£5	£5
Colchester	1199-1200, 1202, 1204-06, 1215	£103 6s 8d	£14 15s 3d
Corfe	1202, 1215	£3 10s	£1 15s
Devizes	1202, 1208	£9 5s 4d	£4 12s 8d
Dorchester	1202, 1205-09, 1214-15	£36 4s 9d	£4 10s 7d
Dover	1200-01	£36 8d	£18 4d
Dunster	1199	£4 18s 9d	£4 18s 9d
Durham	1211	£13 3s 3½d	£13 3s 3½d
Ellesmere	1204-05	£35 13s 4d	£17 16s 8d
Exeter	1200-01, 1203-04, 1210, 1212, 1214-15	£50 10d	£6 5s 1d
Gloucester	1199-1205, 1207	£79 7s 7d	£9 18s 5d
Grosmont	1201	£3 14s 7d	£3 14s 7d
Guildford	1200, 1202-10, 1212, 1215	£43 18s 7d	£3 13s 3d
Hanley Castle	1200, 1202	£12 2s 9d	£6 1s 5d
Hastings	1204, 1208	£40	£20
Hereford	1199, 1201, 1205-08	£13 9s 7d	£2 4s 11d
Hertford	1200, 1202	£3 6s	£1 13s
Horsley/Horston	1206, 1214-15	£12 10s	£4 3s 4d
Kenilworth	1206	£5	£5
Kenilworth	1215	£402 2s	£402 2s
Lancaster	1199-1200, 1203-06, 1208	£38 4s 2½d	£5 9s 2d
Launceston	1200-01, 1203, 1205, 1207-08, 1210-12, 1214	£52 1s 10d	£5 4s 2d
Lincoln	1200, 1204	£20 5s 3d	£10 2s 8d
Luggershall	1203-04	£112 14s 1d	£56 7s 1d
Lydford	1208-09	£3 9s 6d	£1 14s 9d
Marlborough	1204-05	£126 10s 7d	£63 5s 4d
Montgomery	1207	£2 13s 4d	£2 13s 4d
Mountsorrel	1199	£5	£5
Newcastle Under Lyme	1199-1200, 1202-04, 1214	£87 2d	£14 10s
Newcastle on Tyne	1199-1200, 1202, 1204-08	£29 14s 10d	£3 14s 4d
Northampton	1199-1204, 1206, 1211-12, 1214-15	£113 1s 10d	£10 5s 7d
Norwich	1205	£50	£50
Nottingham	1199-1204	£50 4s 8d	£8 7s 5d
Orford	1200, 1206, 1210	£40 18s 11d	£13 13s
Oswestry	1199	£6 13s 4d	£6 13s 4d
Oxford	1199, 1201-06, 1208, 1212, 1214	£126 11s 5½d	£12 13s 2d
Peak	1199, 1203-04, 1215	£8 14s 6d	£2 3s 8d
Pickering	1199-1202, 1210-12	£29 8s 3d	£4 4s
Pontefract	1199	£3 6s	£3 6s
Rochester	1200-01, 1203, 1206, 1214	£78 14s 7d	£15 14s 11d
Rockingham	1199, 1211	£6 16s 6d	£3 8s 3d
St Briavels	1203	£5	£5
Salisbury	1200, 1203, 1205-06, 1208-09, 1212, 1214-15	£161 11s 4d	£17 19s
Scarborough	1199, 1202	£17	£8 10s
Sherborne	1206, 1208-09, 1215	£157 11s 2d	£39 7s 10d
Shrawardine	1204-05, 1207, 1212	£31	£7 15s
Shrewsbury	1199-1200, 1203, 1205, 1207, 1212	£40 1s 4d	£6 13s 7d
Skenfrith	1201	£3 14s 7d	£3 14s 7d
Sleaford	1212	£4 16s 8d	£4 16s 8d
Southampton	1201-04, 1207, 1209, 1215	£90 2s 6d	£12 17s 6d
Stafford	1199-1200, 1204	£3 5s	£1 1s 8d
Tickhill	1201, 1203-04, 1210-11	£87 16s 4d	£17 11s 3d
Tower of London	1199, 1203-04, 1208, 1212	£86 4s 10d	£17 5s
Wallingford	1201, 1204, 1212, 1214	£13 12s	£3 8s
Warwick	1200	£19	£19
West Derby	1204	10s	10s
White Castle	1201	£3 14s 7d	£3 14s 7d
Winchester	1199, 1202, 1204-09, 1214	£103 10s	£11 10s
Windsor	1200, 1204-07, 1211	£89 10s 7d	£14 18s 5d
Worcester	1199-1200, 1202, 1205-08, 1212, 1214	£53 7d	£5 17s 10d
York	1199-1211, 1214	£28 8s 3d	£2 7d