A few weeks ago, I did some research on the history of Stockport castle to aid me in producing a print.
I found out that Stockport was originally called ‘Stokeport’, which roughly means ‘Stock’ (Stockdale – so called from Old English stocc ‘tree trunk’ + dæl ‘valley’. ) and ‘port’ (Wood)
Stockport castle means “A castle in the wood”. The son of King Henry II, local landlord ‘Geoffrey de Constentin’ held the fortification against the king in 1173 during the ‘barons rebellion’.
The Norman wooden fort was replaced by a stone construction in the early 13th century. Apparently, Halton castle was built in the same style as Stockport castle.
The castle no longer exists and was demolished in 1775. Few plans or images of the castle are available so a bit of artistic license may be required to reproduce an etching.
I have created a few drawings of what I think the castle may have looked like. More posts to follow…
Stockport In Print 