Ravensworth Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle in the village of

Ravensworth Ravensworth is a village and civil parish in the Holmedale valley, within the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-west of Richmond and from Darlington. The parish has a population of 255, accordin ...

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. It has been designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

History

The earliest reference to the castle records a visit from King John in 1201. The remaining parts of Ravensworth Castle date from the late 14th century, when it belonged to Henry, 1st

Baron FitzHugh Baron FitzHugh, of Ravensworth in North Yorkshire, is an abeyant title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1321 for Sir Henry FitzHugh. The title passed through the male line until the death in 1513 of George FitzHugh, 7th Baron FitzH ...

. In 1391 he

enclosed Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

around the castle, creating a park. The castle was gradually dismantled, starting in the 16th century, and the stone was used for other buildings in the area. Ravensworth Castle and Park Wall were given a Grade I

designation by

on 4 February 1969. The Grade I listing is for buildings "of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important". The castle and nearby

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

have been designated a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Architecture

The castle is located on the south-east side of Ravensworth.A wall with a view? The gardens at Ravensworth Castle, North Yorkshire Shaun Richardson & Ed Dennison Pages 21-38 , Published online: 3 November 2014 Download citation https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01433768.2014.981392 The castle is surrounded by a dry

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. Constructed of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and faced with

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

, the remaining structure consists of a three-storey tower attached to a

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...

, with further wall and tower fragments.

References

;Footnotes ;Sources * *

External links

* {{Castles in North Yorkshire Castles in North Yorkshire Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire Ruins in North Yorkshire Scheduled monuments in North Yorkshire Ruined castles in England Ravensworth