King John spent a night in the castle in October 1216 just after his disastrous crossing of the Wash and just before his death, and in 1430 Bishop Richard Fleming died in the castle. Early modern period Henry VIII stayed at Sleaford twice (once in 1541 with his queen Catherine Howard) and held a State Council at the Castle. The castle passed into the hands of the Duke of Somerset in 1544, from whom it was confiscated by the crown in 1546. On both occasions, and in 1555, it was still said to be defensible and habitable. John Leland described it at this time as well maintained with a gatehouse, which housed two portcullises, and a high central tower, 'but not sette upon a hille of raised yerth'. The castle began to fall into disrepair during the second half of the 16th century with the timber and lead roof being removed to be reused in buildings in the town, some of which survives to the present day. The process of decline continued under the ownership of the Carre family. In 1604 it was described as ‘the late fair castle’, suggesting it had been largely or even fully dismantled before 1600. An early 18th-century engraving of the castle shows a ruin with a considerable amount of stonework still visible. Present The visible remains are now only a moat, a scrap of masonry (one small, toppled portion of a wall in the north-east corner of the inner bailey) and associated earthworks. It is now a scheduled monument and a Grade II listed building protected by law. It is also cultivated for wildlife. See also Castles in Great Britain and Ireland List of castles in England Sources Websites Local government pdf Books Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p59 Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p179 Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p148 [slight] Roffe, David, 1993, 'Castles' in Bennett, S. and Bennett, N. (eds), An Historical Atlas of Lincolnshire (University of Hull Press) p40-1 King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p262 Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p298 Roffe, D.R.,1979, 'Origins', in Mahany, C.M., Roffe D.R. (eds) Sleaford (Stamford) p11-16 Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) Beresford, M., 1967, New Towns of the Middle Ages (London)