Knaresborough Castle is a ruined fortress overlooking the

River Nidd The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. In its first few miles it is dammed three times to create Angram Reservoir, Scar House Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir, which attract a total of aroun ...

in the town of

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England.

History

The castle was first built by a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

baron in on a cliff above the River Nidd. There is documentary evidence dating from 1130 referring to works carried out at the castle by

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...

. In the 1170s Hugh de Moreville and his followers took refuge there after assassinating

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...

William de Stuteville William de Stuteville (died 1203) Baron of Cottingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lord of Buttercrambe in the North Riding of Yorkshire, was an English noble. He was the eldest son of Robert de Stuteville and Helewise de Murdac. William ...

was appointed as Governor of Knaresborough castle in Easter 1173. After de Stuteville's death in 1203, King John gave

Hubert Walter Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter b ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, custody of all of William de Stuteville's lands and castles and the wardship of his son and heir Robert de Stuteville. However, Robert died in 1205 and William's brother Nicholas de Stuteville became William's heir. A charter dated at Lambeth 5th August 1205 confirmed that Nicholas had paid a fine of 10,000 marks for his inheritance, with the exception of the castles of Knaresborough and Boroughbridge, which were retained by the King The King regarded Knaresborough as an important northern fortress and spent £1,290 on improvements to the castle. In August 1304,

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (7 August 1282 – 5 May 1316) was the eighth and youngest daughter of King Edward I of England and Queen Eleanor of Castile. Of all of her siblings, she was closest to her younger brother King Edward II, as they were only ...

, a daughter of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

, travelled from

Linlithgow Palace The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although mai ...

to Knaresborough Castle. She gave birth to her son, Humphrey, in September, assisted by a holy relic of the girdle of the Virgin, brought especially from

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. The castle was rebuilt at a cost of £2,174 between 1307 and 1312 by Edward I and completed by

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

, including the great

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

. Edward II gave the castle to

Piers Gaveston Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall (c. 1284 – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England. At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the househo ...

and stayed there himself when the unpopular nobleman was besieged at

Scarborough Castle Scarborough Castle is a former medieval Royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The site of the castle, encompassing the Iron Age settlement, Roman signal station, an Ang ...

Philippa of Hainault Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346,Strickla ...

took possession of the castle in 1331, at which point it became a royal residence. The queen often spent summers there with her family. Her son,

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...

acquired the castle in 1372, adding it to the vast holdings of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of ...

Katherine Swynford Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403), also spelled Katharine or Catherine, was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III. Daughter o ...

, Gaunt's third wife, obtained the castle upon his death. A detailed survey of the state of the castle buildings was made in 1561. The building was used by estate auditors and law courts were held in the hall. The castle was taken by Parliamentarian troops in 1644 during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and largely destroyed in 1648, not as the result of warfare but because of an order from

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

to dismantle all

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

castles. Indeed many town-centre buildings are built of 'castle stone'.

Present day

The remains of the castle are open to the public and there is a charge for entry to the interior remains. The grounds are used as a public leisure space, with a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

and

putting green A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

open during the summer. It is also used as a performing space. It plays host to frequent events, such as the annual FEVA (Festival of Visual Arts and Entertainment). The property is owned by the monarch as part of the Duchy of Lancaster holdings, but is administered by

Harrogate Borough Council Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa wate ...

Crags below Knaresborough Castle - geograph

Description

The castle, now much ruined, comprised two walled

baileys Baileys Irish Cream is an Irish cream liqueur, an alcoholic drink flavoured with cream, cocoa and Irish whiskey. It is made by Diageo at Nangor Road, in Dublin, Ireland and in Mallusk, Northern Ireland. It is the original Irish cream, invente ...

set one behind the other, with the outer bailey on the town side and the inner bailey on the cliff side. The enclosure wall was punctuated by solid towers along its length, and a pair, visible today, formed the main gate. At the junction between the inner and outer baileys, on the north side of the castle stood a tall five-sided

, the eastern parts of which have been pulled down. The keep had a

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

basement, at least three upper stories, and served as a residence for the lord of the castle throughout the castle's history. The castle baileys contained residential buildings, and some foundations have survived. In 1789, historian

Ely Hargrove Ely Hargrove (1741–1818) was an English bookseller and local historian. Life Born at Halifax, Yorkshire, on 19 March (O.S.) 1741, he was the son of James Hargrove of Halifax, by his wife Mary, daughter of George Gudgeon of Skipton-in-Craven. In ...

wrote that the castle contained "only three rooms on a floor, and measures, in front, only fifty-four feet." The upper storey of the Courthouse features a museum that includes furniture from the original Tudor Court, as well as exhibits about the castle and the town.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980, p. 249. *

External links

Knaresborough Castle & Museum
on castlexplorer.co.uk {{Castles in North Yorkshire Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire Castles in North Yorkshire Ruins in North Yorkshire Museums in North Yorkshire Local museums in North Yorkshire Knaresborough De Vesci family