Castle and Priory
Castle Park
Castle Park, on the south side of the Castle precinct, became a select area during Lancaster's prosperous maritime era. Many of the houses were built for wealthy merchants in the eighteenth century.
No. 20 Castle Park. The datestone above the entrance of this house reads 1720. It was built originally for the Birdsworth family (he a lawyer), and was later owned by the Satterthwaite merchant family. The stables and coach house next door are now residences. Several Lancaster families profited from aspects of the slave trade, directly or indirectly.
Lancaster Castle
Round to your left is the entrance to the Castle. The earliest Castle was probably a timber structure erected by Roger of Poitou around 1100, within the south-west corner of the ruins of the Roman fort. The first stone buildings are likely to have been erected in the 12th century. Since then the Castle has undergone repeated alterations and additions. Extensive building was carried out between 1788 and 1823 with the addition of the Shire Hall, Crown Court, Governor's House (designed by Thomas Harrison) and the Female Penitentiary (designed by Joseph Gandy). The Castle was a prison for much of its history - a role that ended in 2011. Most of the Castle is now open to the public. The Castle is owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, which holds state property for the sovereign. The Castle now houses the Lancashire Police Museum.
The John O' Gaunt Gateway was probably added to the Castle in 1405 to improve defences against the Scots who had sacked the town in 1322. It was built by Henry IV but it has been named after his famous father. The trees in front of the south walls follow the line of a former moat.
The Keep, or Lungess Tower, is the oldest part of the Castle, dating from the 12th century. Other medieval structures are Adrian's Tower and the Well Tower.
Find out more about the Castle on the Lancaster Castle website and from Lancaster University's Historic Lancaster website.
Lancaster Priory
Next to the Castle is St Mary's Church (the Priory). The Priory was founded in 1094 by Roger de Poitou on the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon church, very probably a monastery dating from the 9th century. Roger gave the church and its associated properties to the monastery of St. Martin of Seez in Normandy. In 1414 the income of the Priory, and in 1430 legal possession of the Priory, were transferred to the Bridgetinne Convent of Syon in Middlesex. The Priory had long been in effect the the parish church of Lancaster: the first vicar was appointed in 1430/1. Monastic connections were severed in 1539 and St. Mary's has continued as Lancaster parish church to the present day. Most of the present building dates from the 15th century, except for the tower, which was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. The Church's choir stalls are notable.
Find out more about the Priory at the Lancaster Priory Website.
The Roman Fort 
The Roman forts of Lancaster occupied the summit of Castle Hill and their remains lie under the Castle and Priory.
The earliest Roman fort was built of turf and timber in the early-mid AD/CE 70s. It was rebuilt in stone in c. AD 102 and was occupied by units of auxiliary cavalry as evidenced by large quantities of horse dung found in a well during archaeological excavations. The Ala Augusta cavalry unit was the garrison in the late first century and the Ala Sebosiana probably arrived in Lancaster in the late 2nd century. An irregular unit of bargemen was based here in the 4th century. They probably acted as lightermen, bringing into Lancaster goods taken from deeper-draughted vessels anchored in Morecambe Bay.
Leave the Priory, turn right and right again on to Vicarage Lane, a narrow footpath that runs steeply down to the River Lune.
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