Richmond Castle

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Richmond Castle

Richmond Castle in Richmond

Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond is a market town on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, it is a popular tourist destination, with a total population of 8970....
, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a shire county or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial counties of England in that region and also partly in North East England....
, England

England

River Swale

The River Swale is a river in Yorkshire, England and a major tributary of the River Ure, which itself becomes the River Ouse, Yorkshire, emptying into the North Sea via the River Humber....
, close to the centre of the town of Richmond

Richmond, North Yorkshire

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Richmond Castle'

Start a new discussion about 'Richmond Castle'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Richmond Castle in Richmond

Richmond, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

England

River Swale

Richmond, North Yorkshire

York

York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire and River Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city status in the United Kingdom is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence....
in 1069 by English rebels.

William the Conqueror put down the 1069 rebellion in the "harrying of the North" and as a punishment divided out the lands of north Yorkshire among his most loyal followers. Alain Le Roux de Ponthievre

Alain Le Roux

Alan Rufus or Alain le Roux , was a probable companions of William the Conqueror in the Norman Conquest and especially during Harrying of the North, in which he built Richmond Castle....
of Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
received the borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division of various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Richmond for his part in the victory over King Harold at Hastings

Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Normans victory in the Norman Conquest of England. It was fought between the Norman army of William I of England, and the English people army led by Harold Godwinson....
in 1066, and began constructing the castle to defend against further attacks from the north. The original castle had a French keep (Scolland's Hall) but this was superseded by a -high keep constructed at the end of the 12th century by Conan the Little and completed by King Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France....
. This keep, which has stood the test of time very well, was constructed on solid rock and has a very robust design with -thick walls. It was built solely for military needs, as Scolland's Hall was retained for living quarters in the south part of the castle. Today's visitors can climb to the top of the keep for magnificent views of the town of Richmond.

At the same time that the new keep was built, Henry II considerably strengthened the castle by adding walls, towers and a barbican

Barbican

A barbican is a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defense to a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes....
. Richmond Castle has remained quite well-preserved over the centuries because it never saw any serious military conflict and because it was built almost entirely of stone, locally abundant.

The castle gradually fell into decay over the centuries. However, it became the headquarters of the North Yorkshire Militia in 1855, with a military barracks

Barracks

Barracks are living quarters for personnel on a military post. They are typically very plain and all of the buildings in the housing unit are often uniform structures....
constructed in the great court yard. The castle was used extensively during the First World War, primarily as the base of the Non-Combat Corps made up of conscientious objector

Conscientious objector

A conscientious objector is an individual who, on religious, moral or ethical grounds, refuses to participate as a combatant in war or, in some cases, to take any role that would support a combatant organization armed forces....
s. The barracks in the great court yard were destroyed in 1935 but the castle was still used by the army in the Second World War.

Today the castle is looked after by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government with a broad remit of managing the historic built environment of England....
.

Richmond Castle

See also

External links