Castles – England North, Durham & Yorkshire
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Castles – England North, Durham & Yorkshire ‘Build Date’ refers to the oldest surviving significant elements Occupation D Castle Location Configuration Build Date Current Remains Status 1 Barnard Castle NZ 049 165 Motte & bailey 12th-14th C Demolished after 1630 Ruins of varying height 2 Bishop Auckland NZ 215 301 Fortified house c1300 Occupied Much modified 3 Bishopton NZ 367 209 Motte & bailey 1143?? Empty, unknown date Earthworks, masonry fragments 4 Bradley NZ 108 362 Fortified house 1345 Empty, 18th C Jumble of ruins, 18th C house 5 Brancepeth NZ 222 378 Enclosure 1370 Occupied Mix of 14th & 19th C buildings 6 Dawdon NZ 418 485 Tower 16th C Empty, 18th C Ruins of tower, hall block 7 Durham NZ 275 423 Motte & bailey 11th-14th C Occupied Mix of buildings, 11th-19th C 8 Hylton NZ 358 588 Gatehouse c1400 Empty in 20th C Roofless shell + ruined chapel 9 Ludworth NZ 357 413 Tower 1422 Empty from 17th C Fragments 10 Lumley NZ 289 511 Fortified house c1400 Occupied Entire, now a hotel 11 Raby NZ 129 218 Enclosure 1331/1370 Occupied Entire, with later alterations 12 Witton NZ 154 305 Tower + hall 1410 Occupied Tower, other buildings rebuilt Y 1 Ayton SE 988 851 Tower 14th C Empty from 17th C Ruin, part full height 2 Barden SE 051 572 Enclosed tower 1484 Empty from 18th C Roofless, full height + foundations 3 Bolton SE 034 918 Fortified house Late-14th C Sleighted 1647 Roofless, full height 4 Bowes NY 992 134 Keep 12th C Sleighted 1640s Roofless, top storey ruined 5 Burton -in-Lonsdale SD 649 722 Motte & bailey Late-11th C Empty, 14th C Earthworks only 6 Castle Levington NZ 461 103 Motte, no bailey 12th C Empty in 14th C Earthworks only 7 Cawood SE 575 376 Gatehouse, hall Late-14th C Occupied Only gatehouse & hall remain 8 Conisbrough SK 514 989 Enclosed keep c1180 Empty by 16th C Keep + extensive ruins 9 Crayke SE 559 707 Fortified house 15th C Occupied Hall entire, ruined tower 10 Danby NZ 717 072 Fortified house Late-14th C Part-occupied Extensive high ruins 11 Flamborough TA 226 703 Tower + ? Mid-14th C Empty by 18th C Low ruins + earthworks 12 Harewood SE 322 456 Fortified house 14th C Empty after 1630 Roofless high ruin 13 Helmsley SE 611 836 Enclosure c1200 Empty by late-17th C Extensive ruins + ditches 14 Hornby SE 226 937 Tower 14th C Occupied Totally altered mansion 15 John O’ Gaunt SE 219 545 Hunting Lodge Late-12th C Empty Fragmentary ruins & earthworks 16 Knaresborough SE 349 589 Enclosure 14th C Empty Keep, gatehouse + other ruins 17 Markenfield SE 295 673 Fortified house 14th C Occupied Modified but entire 18 Marmion SE 268 787 Gatehouse 15th C Occupied Entire, no other remains 19 Middleham SE 127 876 Enclosure , keep 12th C Empty by 17th C Extensive high ruins 20 Mortham NZ 087 142 Fortified House Mid-14th C Occupied Restored, 1930s 21 Paull Holme TA 185 249 Fortified house 15th C Empty Roofless tower 22 Pickering SE 798 845 Motte & bailey 13th C Empty by 17th C Extensive ruins 23 Pontefract SE 460 224 Enclosure 12/13th C Empty by 17th C Substantial ruins 24 Ravensworth NZ 142 077 Fortified House 14th C Empty by 16th C Ruined tower, other fragments 25 Richmond NZ 172 008 Enclosure 11th C Still in use, 19th C Ruined keep + other ruins 26 Sandal SE 337 181 Motte & Bailey 13th C Empty by 17th C Major earthworks + low ruins 27 Scarborough TA 048 892 Enclosure 12th C Used until 19th C Substantial ruins Motte & bailey 1140 Disused, 15th C Vestigial earthworks SE 652 662 28 Sheriff Hutton Enclosure 1380s Empty, late-16th C High ruins of towers 29 Sigston SE 416 952 Enclosure 1336 Empty, 1503 Vestigial earthworks 1 Occupation Castle Location Configuration Build Date Current Remains Status 30 Skipsea TA 162 551 Motte & bailey c1186 Sleighted, 12th C Earthworks & stone fragments 31 Skipton SD 991 520 Enclosure 13th C Occupied Entire 32 Slingsby SE 696 749 Mansion 17th C Never occupied High ruins, maybe 14th C traces 33 Snape SE 262 844 Fortified House 15/16th C Part occupied Entire S. range, other ruins 34 Spofforth SE 361 511 Fortified House 14th C Empty from 17th C High ruin of west range 35 Thorne SE 689 133 Motte 12th C? Empty from 17th C Earthworks, buried stones 36 Tickhill SK 594 928 Motte & bailey 12th C 17th C hall occupied Hall, gatehouse, motte, moat 37 Whorlton NZ 481 025 Tower & gateho. 14th C Empty by 17th C Ruins of gatehouse & tower 38 Wressle SE 707 316 Fortified house 1390s Empty, late-18th C Ruined S. range only 39 York SE 605 515 Motte & bailey 12th C Tower empty by 17th C Ruined tower, all else rebuilt Notes: 1. A total of 52 castles have been identified in Durham and Yorkshire, (there are 2 separate castles at 1 location). My selection philosophy has been to include those I think interesting with the existence of coherent masonry, a prerequisite; I have tended to exclude those which have benefitted from a modern reconstruction which could be described as a rebuild. There are remains of many more castles in the two counties, which I do not consider, often because they are fragmentary. So, my gazetteer is best regarded as a sample, albeit quite a large one, and the tentative conclusions I draw need to be seen in that light. 2. I have visited all of the 52 castles on my list. 3. There are 12 motte and bailey types, the majority built by the 13th century, there are 11 castles in which the castle buildings are part of the outer defences, and 4 in which the castle buildings are enclosed by a curtain wall often reinforced with towers, making 15 enclosure castles in all. There are only 5 of the tower houses or bastles, so common in Northumberland, partly because the likes of vicars and owners of smaller houses did not see the need to fortify given their distance from the border with Scotland, though they may sometimes have regretted the decision. However the fact that there are 16 fortified houses, indicates that owners of larger houses still sought some protection but wished for more comfort than given by a tower. 4. Castle building took place at a fairly uniform rate during the 11th to the 15th centuries; there was no great increase which can be linked to the Anglo-Scottish wars beginning in the late-13th century. 5. The desertion and decay of castles gathered speed after the start of the 16th century, and was reinforced after the Civil War as some which had survived were sleighted. Pursuit of more comfortable living arrangements became a stronger driver than security. 16 castles are still occupied, perhaps less than might have been expected. 2 D1. Barnard Castle is a motte and bailey sited high above the right bank of the River Tees in the small town, also Barnard Castle, which is 26km west of Darlington. Built in 1095 by Bernard de Balliol and then extended and rebuilt in stone in the first half of the 12th century. In the 13th and 14th centuries the hall, the cylindrical keep (Round Tower) and 3 outer wards (Outer, Middle and Town) were added. The castle was granted to the Earls of Warwick in 1307, but it was not maintained over the following two centuries as they continued to live in Warwick Castle. The castle was attacked and captured in 1536 and 1569 during northern rebellions against Protestant religion and afterwards was left to decay. In 1630 it was sold off and quarried. Looking at the aerial view from the north, the inner ward is on the right, and was surrounded by a curtain wall, with towers including the large round tower, and a moat, entered through a gateway. Inside the inner ward, on its right, was a hall, together with a large kitchen and other domestic buildings. The town ward is to the left, and housed some ancillary buildings while the large outer ward, separated from the town and middle wards by the wall and gatehouse still partly to be seen near the top of the photograph. The outer ward is not now as large as it was. The lower photograph is a view of the castle from river level on the west. 3 D2. Bishop Auckland Castle is in the north-east of the town to which it gives its name, above the right bank of the River Wear. The first building on the site was a hunting lodge, which was converted into a castle in c1300, but the tower which survives was probably built a century later. The medieval castle played no military role, except that in acknowledgement of the secular responsibilities of the Bishops for the North of England, armies mustered there before confronting Scots invasions. After the Civil War, the castle was sold to the prominent Republican MP, Sir Arthur Hazelrigg, and he began to demolish it with the intention of building a new mansion. His plans were interrupted by the Restoration and the building was restored to the bishopric; then Bishop Cosin restored the castle and converted a 12th century aisled hall into a chapel. Thereafter the buildings were altered and Gothicised becoming the principle home of the Bishops of Durham in 1832. In recent years those parts not occupied by the Bishop have been opened to the public. In the aerial view from the north-east, the chapel is the building on the right, the gateway is on the left, and the castle complex is in the centre foreground; the newer buildings behind are of the college.