Upsall Castle is a fourteenth-century ruin, park and manor house in

Upsall Upsall is a hamlet in and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately four miles north-east of Thirsk. Upsall is part of the Upsall and Roxby estates owned by the Turton family. The populat ...

, in the Hambleton district of

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

Some records state that there was a building of some construction on the site of the castle in 1130 and used by Roger De Mowbray. The earliest extant building on the site is the ruin of a quadrangular

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, probably begun in 1327 by

Geoffrey Scrope Sir Geoffrey le Scrope (1285 – 2 December 1340) was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench for four periods between 1324 and 1338. Life He was the son of Sir William le Scrope, who was bailiff to the earl of Richmond in R ...

, which was reputedly demolished in 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 ...

. His son,

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

continued the building work. The last mention in records of the castle are in 1660. Surveys revealed that the part of the southeast tower (Kitchen Tower) remained, as did the foundations for the south and west walls. The north and eastern structures of the old castle now lie beneath ground level. Mason markings are still visible, including the faded arms of the

Scrope family Scrope (pronounced "scroop") is the name of an old English family of Norman origin that first came into prominence in the 14th century. The family has held the noble titles of Baron Scrope of Masham, Baron Scrope of Bolton, and for a brief time, the ...

. The castle, the old Gatehouse located west of the present day Garden Cottage and the remains of the old castle walls are all listed monuments. This castle was replaced by a manor house, which was rebuilt in the 19th century and then rebuilt again following destruction by fire in 1918. The castle was part of the manor of the Scrope family until 1520, when it passed to Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Scrope, wife of Sir Ralph Fitz Randolph. It then passed again via his daughter, Agnes, to her son Christopher Wyvill, son of Ripon MP, Sir Marmaduke Wyvill. After this it passed to the Crown in 1577, before coming into the hands of the Constable family. They held it until 1768 when it was purchased briefly by William Chapman who sold it the Turton family.

Legends

John Constable, who resided at the castle in 1610, was a supporter of the Royal cause during the Civil War. The 19th-century writers William Grainge and John Gilbert Baker noted that he reportedly left a curse on any owner of Upsall who should prove disloyal to his king and country. The writers also recounted a folklore story of a man who dug under a bush at Upsall Castle, finding a pot of gold; later on, a stranger revealed to him that there was another pot of gold buried under the first, which he then dug up as well.

References

External links

{{Castles in North Yorkshire Castles in North Yorkshire