Tickhill Castle was a castle in Tickhill, on the Nottingham/Yorkshire West Riding border, England and a prominent stronghold during the reign of King John.
The castle started as an 11th-century motte-and-bailey earthwork named Blythe Castle, built by Roger de Busli, a major landholder in the Domesday Book holding 174 estates in Nottinghamshire, on land granted to him by William the Norman. The castle was deliberately built on the Nottingham/Yorkshire border, as Roger held authority in both. After a siege in 1102 Robert Bloet added a curtain wall to the rampart around the bailey; the first part of the castle to be built of stone. [1]
From 1151 to 1153, the castle was held by Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester before his death after being poisoned. In 1180 construction began on an 11-sided or circular[2] keep on top of the motte by Henry II of England; it was completed in 1192 along with a stone bridge and a chapel constructed by Eleanor of Aquitaine.