Skipton Castle

File:(Skipton Castle, Yorkshire, England) (LOC) (16615429880).jpg of Skipton Castle, {{circa}}1890–1900]]

Skipton Castle was originally a motte and bailey castle built in 1090 by Robert de Romille, lord of the multiple estates of Bolton Abbey. Shortly after 1102, Henry I extended Romille's lands to include all of upper Wharfedale and upper Airedale.{{cite book |title= Conquest, Anarchy a & Lordship: Yorkshire 1066–1154|last= Dalton|first=Paul |year=1994 |publisher= Cambridge University Press|location=UK |isbn=0-52152464-4}}{{Page needed|date=September 2024}} The earth and wood castle was rebuilt in stone to withstand attacks by the Scots. Dropping down to Eller Beck, the cliffs behind the castle made it a perfect defensive structure. In 1310, after the Romille line had died out, Edward II granted the castle to Robert Clifford who was appointed Lord Clifford of Skipton and Guardian of Craven.{{cite web|url=https://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/hist.asp?page=3 |title=History of Skipton Castle|access-date=25 January 2021|website=skiptoncastle.co.uk}} Lord Clifford ordered many improvements to the fortifications, but he died in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 when the improvements were barely complete.{{cite book |last1=Barrow |first1=Geoffrey W. S. |title=Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland |date=1988 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=226}} Skipton was raided by the Scots during the Great Raid of 1322, yet the castle, with all its improvements, withstood the attack.

During the English Civil War, the castle was the last Royalist stronghold in the north of England to surrender, in December 1645. After a three-year siege, a surrender was negotiated on 21 December 1645 between Oliver Cromwell and the Royalists. Cromwell slighted the castle by ordering the removal of the roofs. Legend has it that during the siege, sheep fleeces were hung over the walls to deaden the impact from the rounds of cannon fire. Sheep fleeces feature in the town's coat of arms.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mB1wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT170|title=Haunted Castles of England: A Tour of 99 Ghostly Fortresses|first=J. G.|last=Montgomery|year=2018|publisher=Llewellyn Publications|isbn=978-0-73875778-0}}{{Page needed|date=September 2024}} Skipton remained the Cliffords' principal seat until 1676. Lady Anne Clifford (1590–1676) was the last Clifford to own the castle. After the siege, she ordered repairs and planted a yew tree in the central courtyard to commemorate its restoration after the war. Lady Anne's daughter, Lady Margaret Sackville (1614–1676), married John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet (1609–1664), and the castle was then passed down through the Tufton family, becoming the seat of Lord Hothfield in 1871.{{cite web|url=https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/U330594/Skipton-Castle-Yorkshire-the-Seat-of-Lord-Hothfield|title=Skipton Castle, Yorkshire, the Seat of Lord Hothfield|publisher=Look and Learn|access-date=25 January 2021}}

Skipton Castle is a well-preserved medieval castle, now a tourist attraction and a private residence. The castle is the start of the {{convert|100|mi|adj=on}} Lady Anne's Way long-distance path to Penrith.{{cite web |title=Lady Anne's Way |url=https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Lady+Anne%27s+Way |website=Long Distance Walkers Association |access-date=13 April 2019}}

Further Reginaldus Flandrensis witnessed a Skipton charter around 1130.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} "He held an office of trust as Seneschal of Skipton Castle, and we must assume that these lands were given to him at about that time as a reward for his services. They amounted to 1 Knight's fee and 14 carucates, and were held under Skipton Castle for feudal service."{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

The Fattorini family purchased the castle in 1956.{{Cite web |date=25 October 2018 |title=BID decision is so vital to future of Skipton, says castle owner |url=https://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/16999959.bid-decision-vital-future-skipton-says-castle-owner/ |access-date=27 May 2024 |website=Craven Herald |language=en}} The castle gained free wifi as part of an internet connectivity effort in North Yorkshire.{{Cite web |title=Free public access Wi-Fi goes live in Skipton |url=https://www.rombaldsradio.com/news/featured-stories/free-public-access-wi-fi-goes-live-in-skipton/ |date=3 October 2021 |website=Rombalds Radio |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012102252/https://www.rombaldsradio.com/news/featured-stories/free-public-access-wi-fi-goes-live-in-skipton/ |archive-date=12 October 2022}}

The castle has six fortified drum towers, with a domestic range connecting two towers on the northern side, protected by a precipice overlooking the Eller Beck. The first floor comprises the original kitchen, great hall, withdrawing rooms and the lord's bedchamber. New kitchens, storage and work cellars make up the ground floor. The remaining towers are military in nature and purpose. In the 16th and 17th centuries were added a new entrance staircase (replacing the original drawbridge), a further domestic wing, and larger windows in the original structure. The roof is fully intact. In the centre is a Tudor courtyard called the Conduit Court, which contains a yew tree, reputedly planted by Lady Anne in 1659.

The outer curtain wall encloses the inner wards and subsidiary buildings, including the ruins of a 12th-century chapel. The wall is mainly extant, and is pierced by a twin-towered Norman gatehouse. The east tower of the gatehouse contains a 17th-century shell grotto, one of two remaining grottos from this period (the other being at Woburn Abbey).{{cite book|first=Hazelle |last=Jackson|title=Shell Houses and Grottoes|year=2001|publisher=Shire Publications|isbn=978-0-74780522-9|url=http://www.londongardenstrust.org/features/grotto.htm}}{{Page needed|date=September 2024}}

An ancient well may explain how the castle garrison survived the siege of 1643–1645.{{cite news |title=Skipton Castle, the best preserved castle in England |url=https://www.britaine.co.uk/skipton-castle-the-best-preserved-castle-in-england-F110DC6001CD542 |access-date=29 November 2018 |website=britaine.co.uk |date=29 November 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129225204/https://www.britaine.co.uk/skipton-castle-the-best-preserved-castle-in-england-F110DC6001CD542 |archive-date=29 November 2018}}

{{Gallery

| title =

| width = 200

|File:Conduit Court Skipton Castle.jpg|alt1=A courtyard in a medieval building with a large yew tree growing in the centre.|The Conduit Court and Yew tree

|File:Skipton Castle dg2.JPG|alt2=A two-storey castle with a two-storey circular tower on the left and a three-storey octagonal tower on the right. The castle overlooks a green lawn.|The Tudor Wing

|File:Skipton Castle rear.jpg|alt3=A two- and three-storey building on top of an escarpment. Below the escarpment is a fenced footpath curving away from the photographer's perspective to the right.|Skipton Castle seen from behind

|File:Skipton Castle dg8.JPG|alt4=A low stone building with a large window, devoid of glass|The 12th-century chapel of St John the Evangelist

}}

• Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, in the family vault
• George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, in the family vault

• History of Skipton

{{Reflist}}

• Skipton Castle (guidebook), Jarrod Publishing, 1999

{{Commons category|Skipton Castle}}

• [http://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/ Official site]
• [http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/2162.html Gatehouse Gazetteer record for Skipton Castle], containing a comprehensive bibliography
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061230010929/http://www.skiptonweb.co.uk/tourist/skiptoncastle.htm Skipton Web entry on Skipton Castle]

{{Castles in North Yorkshire}}

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1090

Category:Castles in North Yorkshire

Category:Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire

Category:Grade I listed castles

Category:Historic house museums in North Yorkshire

Category:Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire

Category:Shell grottoes

Category:Skipton