Skipton Castle
Skipton Castle is a wooden motte and bailey castle on sheer cliff above Eller Beck in Airedale. William de Forz, lord of Skipton by right of his wife Hawise, Countess of Aumale has recently returned from the Third Crusade and has started contruction of a modern stone gatehouse.
Purpose / Function
Skipton Castle lies at a strategic location in the Craven district of the Pennines - it lies at the eastern end of two major passes across the Pennines, close to the upper limit of medieval navigation on the River Aire.
It is a frontier castle at the heart of a compact honour; the northwestern pass leads to Cumbria, held by Scotland at the time of construction. The eastern pass leads to Clitheroe, where another frontier castle defends the southern route from Cumbria.
Alterations
Robert de Romilly's original motte and bailey was reinforced in the early 12th century with a ditch and bank topped with a wooden palisade encompassing the motte and bailey to the south, whether the ground slopes gently to the vill of Skipton.
William de Forz, husband of Hawise of Skipton, has recently returned from the Crusade and has ordered the construction of a stone gatehouse flanked by two round stone towers for the inner bailey. Construction is ongoing.
History
The first castle at Skipton was a wooden motte and bailey built around 1100 by Robert de Romilly shortly after he was granted the Honour of Skipton. Though the original chief settlement of Saxon earl Edwin's Craven holdings was at Bolton, Romilly chose a defensible site at Skipton, guarded by sheer cliffs above Eller Beck, for his castle, which became the caput of his new fief.
A Scottish army led by William FitzDuncan, nephew of David, King of Scots, took the castle in 1138 even as the Scots' main thrust into northern England was halted near Northallerton at the Battle of the Standard.
FitzDuncan established his hold on the castle by marrying heiress Alice de Romilly. In 1154 Alice (and FitzDuncan) donated land beside the River Wharfe at Bolton so that the monks of Embsay Priory, founded by her mother, could move there. She also had a stone chapel built in the bailey of Skipton Castle.
The first defensive stone elements were built by William de Forz, husband of Hawise, Countess of Aumale and Essex.
Much of the visible layout was built in the early 13th century at the order of William II de Forz, who inherited the honour from his mother Hawise. In 1310 the house came into the possession of Robert Clifford whose descendents held it until 1676. It was modified during the Tudor period by the addition of a more comfortable accomodation suite in the central court and the creation of the Long Gallery - still a private house.
Notable Cliffords include John Clifford (1435-1461), known as the Butcher or Bloody Clifford, who fought for the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses. He was killed in a skirmish the day before the Battle of Towton. Clifford ambushed Yorkist forces led by the Earl of Warwick who were attempting to repair the bridge at Ferrybridge. The ambush was successful, and the Butcher withdrew, pursued by a Yorkist detachment commanded by Lord Fauconberg after inflicting heavy losses on WEarwick's troops. Fauconberg's forces caught Clifford near Castleford; the Butcher was killed by an arrow to the throat having removed his beevor.
The Cliffords, fearing retaliation following the Yorkist victory at Towton, hid Butcher Clifford's 5 year old heir Henry with a poor shepherd family in Cumbria, giving him his nickname the Shepherd Lord. He fought for Henry Tudor at Bosworth and became one of the new king's most valuable vassals in the north. He died in 1524.
The castle, a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War, held out against Parliamentary forces through a series of sieges from 1645 to 1648, finally falling in December 1648. It was slighted (pulled down) by order of Parliament by January 1649. Lady Anne Clifford, the last Clifford holder, obtained permission to rebuild it in 1658.
Founding Date
1100
Type
Castle
Parent Location
Owner
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Comments