Richmond Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Richmond in Swaledale; Richemont

In the civil parish of Richmond.
In the historic county of Yorkshire North Riding (Modern Authority of North Yorkshire, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

Built by Alan Rufus between 1071 and 1091. It was an impressive construction consisting of a triangular inner bailey protected by massive stone walls on two sides and the steep banks of the River Swale to the south. Scolland's hall (the earliest known example of a two storey four roomed castle hall in England) and other living quarters were built within the bailey. In the second half of C12 a Keep with massive, thick walls was added. Rising to some 100ft high, this splendid stone Keep was built on the site of the original gatehouse and remains virtually intact.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number )

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NZ17130072

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 21618

Web site links

http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/hq69/Pages/hist_cas.html
http://www.bispham2.freeserve.co.uk/castles/richmond.htm
http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/richmond%20castle.htm
http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/richmond/richmond.php
http://www.dales-castles.org.uk/richmond.htm
http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_Richmond.htm
http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/92/richmondcastle.htm
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.376
http://www.norman-world.com/angleterre/Patrimoine_architectural/Angleterre/Castles/richmond/richmnd1.htm
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/hq69/Pages/hist_cas.html0
http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/hq69/Pages/hist_cas.html1

Books

Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlise) p62-6
Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p78-81
Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p40-3
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p295-7 [plan]
McNeill, Tom, 1992, English Heritage book of castles (London: English Heritage) p7,33,34,48,49,127
Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p197
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p524
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p285-6
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p282, 286, 194-5
Pevsner, N., 1966. The Buildings of England: Yorkshire, North Riding (London) p292-4
Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p806 [slight]
Sanders, I.J., 1960, English Baronies. A study of their origin and descent 1086-1327 p140-1
Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p93-5
Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p84-9
Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH York, North Riding Vol1 p12-16
Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p193-5
Evans, Herbert A., 1912, Castles of England and Wales (London) p89-97
Thompson, A. Hamilton, 1912, Military architecture in England during the Middle Ages (OUP) p90-5
Thompson, A. Hamilton, 1909, in Fallow, Memories of Old Yorkshire (London) p243-6
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p82-6
Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p246-8
Speight, H., 1897, Romantic Richmondshire p47-59
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p181
Whellan T, 1859, History and Topography of the City of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol2 p6-24
Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p337
Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol6 p146-51

Journal Articles

Butler, Lawrence, 1992, 'The Origins of the Honour of Richmond and its Castles' Chateau-Gallard Vol16 p69-80 [Reprinted in Liddiard, Robert, (ed), 2003, Anglo-Norman Castles (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)]
Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p313, 315
Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
I'Anson, W.M., 1913, 'The castles of the North Riding' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p374-6
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol20 p132-3
Clark, G.T., 1886, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol9 p33-54
Clark, G.T., 1882, The Builder Vol43 p643-4, 676-7 [reprinted in 1886 Y.A.J. without plans]
Milward, 1848, Archaeological Journal Vol5 p52-6
Curwen, J.F., Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society Vol6 p326-32
Brock, Loftus, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol43 p179

Guidebooks

2001, Richmond Castle, Easby Abbey Colour Handbook (English Heritage)
Weaver, J., 1989, Richmond Castle and Easby Abbey (English Heritage)
Peers, C., 1981, Richmond Castle, Yorkshire (English Heritage)
Peers, C., 1953, Richmond Castle, Yorkshire (HMSO)
Peers, C., 1935, Richmond Castle, Yorkshire (HMSO)

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities23.htm]
William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#rich1]
Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p554, 564
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p79 Vol4 p25

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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