n its day Wallingford Castle was one of the most important castles in England. It was a motte and bailey castle located in the corner of a village enclosure on the west bank of the Thames where it was possible to cross the river. Very little of the castle remains today. Records indicate that the site was attacked by the Danes in 1006 and rebuilt in 1013. A castle existed at the time of the Conquest belonging to a Saxon called Wigod. Wigod supported William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings. In 1067 Robert D'Oyley of Liseux married Wigod's daughter and built a new castle at a strategic site. The castle was built as part on the Norman Conquest and would have been complete by 1071 when the Abbot of Abingdon was reportedly imprisoned there. During the anarchy involving King Stephen and Matilda the castle was held by Brian FitzCount who supported Matilda. Stephen built two siege towers around Wallingford to try and take the castle but failed. In 1153 Henry, Matilda's son and later Henry II, attacked the siege forts that Stephen had built and a peace treaty was concluded which stated that Henry would become King after Stephen's death. Henry II received the castle after the period of anarchy ended. In 1264 Prince Edward, King Henry III's son (later Edward I) was held prisoner at Wallingford by Simon de Montfort. He was moved to Kenilworth Castle after trying to escape.

During the Civil Wars of Charles I Wallingford Castle was held by the Royalists who wanted to guard the important river crossing point. Parliamentarian forces could not capture the castle and a siege only ended when the Royalist commander of the castle, Colonel Blagge, surrendered the castle after Charles himself had surrendered. In 1652, after being used as a prison for a short time, Cromwell decided that the castle should be totally destroyed so that it could not become a threat again.