Skipton Castle

[jacey]

Had a meeting at Skipton Castle on Sunday. It's absolutely my favourite castle ever. It's small - a very modest footprint - and fully roofed and floored so you can wander round most of it. In fact it feels like you culd actually just bring your suitcase and move in. Because it was a business meeting I didn't get the opportunity to take a lot of photos, just a few snaps on the iTouch. The upside was that we were shown round by the grandson of the chap who bought the place in the 1950s. Yes, it's privately owned, not funded by English Heritage or anything.

The Fattorini Family have done an enormous amount of restoration - most recently re-roofing the great hall so it's weatherproof - at enormous expense, but it's oh-so worth it.

There was a timber stronghold here just after the Norman Conquest but the stone castle was built by the Cliffords after it was granted in 1310 by Edward II. It was the last surviving Royalist bastion in the north during the Civil War, finally giving in in 1645 after a 3 year siege. Cromwell had it slighted, but Lady Ann Clifford had it rebuilt again. She had the yew tree planted in the central courtyard which is such a distinctive feature today.

The pics only give a flavour. I heartily recommend a visit if you're in the area.

The castle is just above the town centre and an easy walk from the car parks in the town. There's a fabulous gatehouse and then it opens up on to this...

This is the new (Elizabethan) entrance. The round towers are part of the original structure and the original entrance is hidden behind it. Rather than going up steps and turning right, the drawbrigde was left to right on a straight through path



This is the conduit court, the small enclosed courtyard that's the heart of the medieval castle itself, complete with the ancient yew planted by Lady Anne some 350 years ago. After the slighting by cromwell the rebuilding involved replacing some of the external arrow slits with windows.


From the Conduit Court there are extenal steps up to the great hall. The Norman arch on the left is the entrance from both Elizabethan extension on the outside and the original drawbridge. You can still see where the drawbridge and portcullis went. Beautiful medieval engineering.

And here's a view of the Conduit Court from inside the 'new' kitchen on ground level. There's an earlier very well preserved Medieval kitchen on the upper level next to the Great Hall which in itself may have been the original great hall of the castle (with the kitchen then outside, of course).

Comments

[charlieallery.livejournal.com]

Wow, that looks fantastic - definitely up for visiting that one day! Hmmm, I can feel a castle-tour building. ;)

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Oh, come and stay. It's only an hour and a half from me and I'm always willing to grab any excuse to visit.
:-)
It's definitely somewhere I'd like to set a story sometime.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

It is a beauty, Skipton. We liked it very much when we visited.

[stephanieburgis.livejournal.com]

Ohhh, I miss Skipton Castle! Back when we lived in Leeds, we used to go there regularly, often as my birthday treat.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I have been through Skipton on a bus many many years ago, but never had chance to explore the town. The castle looks most interesting.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Oy. You have business meetings in mediaeval castles?

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Yes it's a proper castle but on a human scale and it seems very close to being in working order, so you feel as though you could just about move in there.

I see you're going to be at Eastercon. It would be nice to meet up.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

The castle is right in the town with the gatehouse visible for one end of the main street, so it's very easily accessible. The town looks interesting, too, though apart from having a nice mid afternoon bite to eat I didn't get to look round on Sunday.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I was talking to them about possibilities for performance spaces, arts events and early music. One of the groups I represent specialises in early music played in period costume on authentic instruments. (All periods from Medieval through Tudor, Civil War to Victorian.) Not sure if anything will come of it, but we got to see all the possible spaces in the castle form the Great hall to the Granary and the old church, plus outside spaces on the lawns, and now we're (all) thinking about it. Sometimes I love my job!

[inamac.livejournal.com]

I like Skipton castle - all that red stone is wonderfully warming.

All the best castles are still privately owned (Leeds and Hever).

(You do realise that new (Elizabethan) could mean that it's less than 60 years old? - But we knew what you meant!)

[stephanieburgis.livejournal.com]

Wahh! We will not be at Eastercon, because they won't have childcare this year, so we can't attend. Unfortunately, we bought the memberships on the assumption that there would be childcare, like there was last year, and then they wouldn't let us cancel our memberships and we couldn't find anybody to buy them. Financially, a mess all 'round! But worst of all is just the fact that it'll be the first Eastercon in years that we'll miss. I love Eastercon!

I'll hope to see you at next year's Eastercon, though, if not before.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear that.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

I've never been to Leeds Castle but the pictures look fantastic - in every sense of the word. Pity it's not near... er... Leeds.

[brownnicky.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite places.