Castle · Winchester · Hampshire

Wolvesey Castle

Wolvesey Castle is a grade I listed castle in Winchester, Hampshire. The site is looked after by English Heritage. Top of the 36 other places within 15 km is Winchester Cathedral, 300 m off.

Photo: Wolvesey Castle, Simon Burchell (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where

In Winchester

inside the built-up area

Run by

English Heritage

a national heritage body

How well known

Top 7%

#525 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

May–Sep

highs of 18–23°C

In brief

Castle in Winchester

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#525 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (10 Wikipedias). About ↓

Inside Winchester

Wolvesey Castle is inside Winchester’s built-up area, with 21 more places to visit within 5 km. Towns near it ↓

Cared for by English Heritage

One of the places English Heritage looks after; members usually get in free. About ↓

Scheduled monument

On the official list of protected heritage; Winchester has 488 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

Seasons and weather

The warmest afternoons in Winchester run May to September, at 18–23°C.

Jan8° / 2°99 mm

Feb9° / 2°67 mm

Mar12° / 3°62 mm

Apr15° / 5°63 mm

May18° / 8°52 mm

Jun21° / 11°55 mm

Jul23° / 13°52 mm

Aug23° / 13°63 mm

Sep20° / 10°65 mm

Oct16° / 8°97 mm

Nov12° / 5°105 mm

Dec9° / 2°89 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Winchester, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Winchester. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Winchester’s full climate →

About

Wolvesey Castle

Its story is told in 10 languages on Wikipedia.

Winchester’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Castle
Run by: English Heritage
Listed: Scheduled monument
Wikipedias: Covered in 10 languages
Town: in Winchester
Official site: english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wolvesey-castle-old-bishops-palace

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

Plan your visit

Getting in

Entrance feesFreeNo entrance fee.

Hours and entry: OpenStreetMap contributors. They change through the year: check its site before you go.

The map

Finding Wolvesey Castle

Orange shows Wolvesey Castle; numbers mark the places near it.

Towns near it

Towns close to Wolvesey Castle

Of the 8, Winchester is the largest, at 48,486 people. All of these towns include it on their pages.

1 · It’s in town

Winchester

48,486 people · 24 places to visit

2 · 2.6 km north of it

Kings Worthy

4,631 people · 20 places to visit

3 · 2.9 km southwest of it

Shawford

416 people · 17 places to visit

4 · 3.2 km south of it

Twyford

1,482 people · 19 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where Wolvesey Castle is	People	Places to visit
Winchester	It’s in town	48,486	24
Kings Worthy	2.6 km north of it	4,631	20
Shawford	2.9 km southwest of it	416	17
Twyford	3.2 km south of it	1,482	19
Littleton	3.5 km northwest of it	1,506	18
Compton	4.2 km south of it	1,307	20
Sparsholt	5.4 km northwest of it	434	16
Itchen Abbas	5.8 km northeast of it	519	7

Make a day of it

Beyond Wolvesey Castle

Nearby, 36 places within 15 km include 4 museums, a cathedral and a castle.

CathedralWinchester Cathedral300 m away 2

CastleWinchester Castle800 m away 3ChurchChurchOld Minster300 m away 4

MuseumGurkha Museum800 m away 5

MuseumRoyal Green Jackets Museum900 m away 6

PalaceBishop's Palace100 m away 7

MuseumSerle's House600 m away 8

MuseumMuseum of the Adjutant General's Corps900 m away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Good to know about Wolvesey Castle

Where is Wolvesey Castle?

Wolvesey Castle is in Winchester, Hampshire, inside the town’s built-up area.

What is Wolvesey Castle?

Grade I listed castle in Winchester, Hampshire, England, UK.

Who runs Wolvesey Castle?

English Heritage, so members usually get in free; check opening times before you go.

When is the best time to visit Wolvesey Castle?

May to September are the warmest months in Winchester, with afternoon highs of 18–23°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Wolvesey Castle a listed building?

Yes: scheduled monument.

What else is there to see near Wolvesey Castle?

Within 15 km: Winchester Cathedral (300 m), Winchester Castle (800 m), Old Minster (300 m) and Gurkha Museum (800 m).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (8)

Wolvesey Castle: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Winchester Cathedral: http://www.wyrdlight.com Author: Antony McCallum, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Winchester Castle: Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Gurkha Museum: Anwpwiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Royal Green Jackets Museum: Major J Pearson - museum photographer., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bishop's Palace: Johan Bakker, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Serle's House: Chris Talbot, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Museum of the Adjutant General's Corps: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.