Conquering the Castle Narrative: Family, Opportunity and the Lived Experience at Yorkshire Castles

Beyond the awesome scale of the medieval castle, these buildings have a rich story to tell about the families that lived there and the communities around them. Taking a second glance at the physical remains is always rewarding, as Leah Goddard found when visiting Middleham and Richmond Castles for the module The Visible Past.

Over the course of a few weeks on the Visible Past module, we have been considering how castle studies and scholarship have favoured particular narratives over others when considering the subjects of their investigation. Our class trip to Middleham Castle and Richmond Castle helped not only to solidify that which we had been discussing as a group, but to demonstrate this ideological favouritism up close.

We began the day at Middleham Castle. I was immediately struck by its sheer size and magnitude, and how it dominates the surrounding town’s landscape. Upon entering the castle grounds, we were confronted with a statue of Richard III, in commemoration of his time spent at Middleham. We soon came to learn, however, that Richard’s involvement with Middleham was not as great as the statue might suggest. It was, in fact, the Neville family who inherited the castle and began re-building in the 13th century that was at the heart of much of the structure and its impressive development. Evidence could be seen in the overall layout of Middleham how certain areas were used as living quarters for visitors, staff, and the ever-growing Neville family; private space that indicated a need for this privacy, yet still closely connected to castle activity. A viewing of the structure in its entirety demonstrated to us how Middleham Castle was, as much as anything else, a family home.

Richmond Castle was our next stop for the day and, as at Middleham, the presence of the site was slightly overwhelming. However, I came to understand the reasons for this as not only was the town of Richmond situated outside the structure, but also within. Once walking through to the enclosure of the castle, this was an idea I could certainly visualize, and was described to us as an ‘area of opportunity’. Whilst Richmond certainly had its military uses, particularly in the Victorian era, intentional choices in the structure to connect all elements of the space stood out to me. Particularly, having the chapel perfectly in between the keep and living quarters, and as an easily accessed space, can help to demonstrate the importance of religious practice to the everyday. A walk through the gardens also prompted interesting discussions with my particular walking group as to how these spaces, natural or constructed spaces such as the chapel, could further our ideas on the daily lives and routines at Richmond.

What interested me the most about both Middleham and Richmond was their importance as domestic spaces and family homes. There is a misconception from many (myself included, until learning more on this module) that castles are purely military spaces designed for protection against siege. Where in truth, castles are multi-purpose structures designed for everyday use as well as military prowess. I found it a shame to understand how this misrepresentation came to be, and consider the lived experiences of those who inherited, resided in, or worked within these spaces as almost fleeting in favour of a supposedly grander story.

This misconception is challenged within both of these sites and others like it; choices made in the layouts and floor plans of a space can reveal just as much as the structure’s materials or preservation. And as a group we were consistently challenged to rethink our pre-conceptions, what we saw before us, and the intentions behind the structures we were engaging with. I felt that I had left this experience with a further interest in heritage and the presentation of history, as well as a knowledge of how close inspection and consideration of the visible past can reveal much more than thought at first glance.

Place, space and community in Yorkshire castles

As part of the module The Visible Past, first year students study castles from different perspectives to understand the significance of these buildings and the people who used them. But it is only when exploring the sites themselves that knowledge of these spaces can really be put into context. Here, Ashanti Carlton shares her thoughts on visiting Middleham and Richmond Castles.

We began with the first site that we visited, Middleham Castle, which is in the middle of the town. The first thing you see is the gatehouse and the sheer thickness of the walls. What was also immediately evident was the size of the windows, especially in comparison to a lot of examples that we had previously studied, hinting at the occupants’ wealth with intricate designs combined in and around the windows.

As you first walk in you see a statue of King Richard III, which looks quite striking against the surroundings and stands out but shows a connection to the space. What I found to be enjoyable when learning about the space was not the focus on a specific individual in relation to the space but rather more of a focus on physical aspects in the space, such as the kitchen areas and the size of the domestic space, areas that we usually don’t associate with castles straight away but were important to everyday life. What was also interesting to see was the size of different spaces within the castle itself, for example the dorm-like space for the religious figures living within the site, also something that we don’t always immediately think of in the context of castles. Similarly communal garderobes (toilets), weirdly a common theme through both the spaces we visited!

Next, we visited Richmond Castle, which was again surrounded by the town but differed from Middleham Castle visually. For example, when you think of a castle on a hill with a large keep that’s what Richmond looks like, especially with it being on top of a hill, from which you could look out for miles. Within the castle there is a distinction of spaces that are in ruins and that are still standing, such as the space where important occupants would live and, again, another fixation on the toilet that was within the space, which I found quite funny. Next to this space are gardens in the grounds of the castle, which were quite beautiful and a nice thing to have to break up the space. I also enjoyed looking at the surrounding area from the top of the keep, despite the rain.

Looking back at the visits what was great about them was both the sense of community that you can see built up surrounding these castles, instead of them being isolated places, and also how the community is involved with the castle space.

Cramped and Communal to Space and Secure: Contrasting Castles in Medieval Yorkshire.

In one of our last teaching sessions before lockdown, students on first year module The Visible Past headed out into the Yorkshire countryside to explore Middleham Castle and Richmond Castle. Here, Emma Gizzi shares her experience of these site visits. 

Our class in front of Richmond’s impressive front.

As we shifted our focus from monastic life and architecture, we spent the next three weeks on castle studies to understand how the visible remains of sites can reveal a great deal concerning many narratives in medieval history, such as nobility, authority and community. In consolidation of the knowledge we have recently gained, we headed off to visit two of Yorkshire’s most visibly impressive castles, Middleham and Richmond. Guided by Carolyn Donohue, Liz Goodwin, and Anthony Smart, it was time to put into practice what we have learnt. 

The coach journey through the sunny Yorkshire countryside to Middleham was very picturesque with much to let the eye wander on, notably even reminding us of ecclesiastical life again as we passed the remains of Jervaulx Abbey on the way.  Once we arrived, immediately we were greeted by the imposing fourteenth-century curtain walls surrounding the twelfth-century hall keep which dominated the town, and entered through the north-east gatehouse into the courtyard. 

Middleham Castle’s kitchen

Once the group photographs were taken, Carolyn guided us through into the keep itself, with walls measuring up to 3.7m thick making it one of the largest by area in the country and a strongly fortified structure which could protect itself and its occupants from the elements. We could also see how domestic the space was, too, with the presence of water wells at both ends and the remains of where the vaulted ceiling would have been, separating the kitchen and cellar on the lower level where we stood and the great chamber and hall above. A further sense of separation and control could be seen in how limited the stairway access is, including the remains of the bridge that would have been used by the castle’s nobility; providing secluded access from the southern ranges into the keep.  

As we headed outside the keep into the southern courtyard we paid particular attention to the decorative remains of the fourteenth-century chapel and Prince’s Tower, as well as the fifteenth-century privy chamber and latrine tower. All of these adhere to the notion of community and a place of residence, with the Prince’s Tower and privy chamber serving to provide for the maternal and feminine members of the household, and the latrine tower as a fine example of the latest medieval hygiene methods. Before allowing us to explore and gather research for ourselves, Carolyn made a final point that the castle’s history should perhaps primarily be associated with the Neville family, since they fundamentally augmented the castle’s significance architecturally and politically, even though more recently the heritage is closely linked to Richard III. This king resided at the castle and also it is believed his only legitimate son, Edward, was born and died at Middleham.  

The entrances of Middleham Castle

For those of us who decided to investigate the top of the keep and check out the surrounding views, Carolyn’s words of how the legacy and beauty of the landscape must have mattered to the occupants certainly rang true, as we noticed to the south the site of where William’s Hill once stood; a wooden motte and bailey type castle probably built by Count Alan Rufus, future founder of Richmond Castle, or his brother Ribald. Moreover, Liz’s words of how the use of light at Middleham was a key indicator of who would have inhabited specific spaces could also be seen, as we noticed significantly smaller windows with less of them in domesticated areas than there was in areas of accommodation that was reserved for the nobility.  

The view from Middleham Castle

As we took a break for lunch, we got back on the coach and headed into the market town of Richmond, where my pals and I decided to opt for some local pub food before we all reconvened outside the entrance to the castle. While Middleham is a fine example of what can be perhaps a cramped and communal experience of castle living, Richmond illustrated an open and more architecturally defensible type of castle; a comparison extremely useful for our studies. As we stood beside the impressive 30m high keep, Carolyn gave us an introduction to its Norman heritage and the vast amount of eleventh and twelfth-century architecture, including the stone curtain wall, the great archway that forms part of the keep, and Scolland’s Hall. The keep as stands today exists from the twelfth-century and is said to be one of the best-preserved castle of this scale and age in the country.  

View from Richmond Castle

Unlike Middleham, which fell into ruin in the seventeenth-century, Richmond remained almost continually in use by authority of some sort until the early twentieth-century. For instance, in the nineteenth-century a barrack block and armoury was built, with the armoury being adapted for later use as a cell block for conscientious objectors during the First World War, although the barrack block is now demolished. We also noted how domesticated and opulent the castle once was too, with Scolland’s Hall, which included a kitchen, buttery and pantry, overlooking the river beside the ‘Cockpit’ garden. Once we set off to explore ourselves, we made sure to investigate some of Carolyn’s suggestions, notably the eleventh-century St. Nicholas chapel featuring visible traces of red paint which would have been used to mark out the lines of masonry, showing how medieval decorative colour schemes would have looked. Upon inspection of the keep, we were greeted with a rather spacious interior that differed considerably to the remains of Middleham, with three floors including a great chamber and small rooms accessible usually from only one entrance. While this furthers the notion of Richmond being a practical defensive structure, it also supports the significance of hierarchy and separation that typically exist within castles. 

Richmond Castle

Since you can never grasp the physical sensations of light and sound, along with the power and emotion of space you are studying, it was a vitally important experience for our studies, and thinking back now whilst considering the current circumstances, it was lovely way to end our first year of studies at York St. John. 

 

 

Turrets and Curtain Walls: Exploring Yorkshire’s Castles

In this post Freya Walker, a 1st year History student at York St John, writes about site visits to Middleham and Richmond Castles for the module, The Visible Past.

For the past three weeks in The Visible Past we have been studying castles, their uses and what they meant to people both at the time and through the ages. But it was visiting the castles that really put this learning into context.

First, we visited Middleham Castle, a castle which almost seemed to leap out at me from behind the houses and pubs in the village. It’s an imposing castle with an incredibly thick curtain wall, forty nine feet high keep and an impressive three story gatehouse. Sitting in the landscape, it looks like a dominating military fortress, primed for an attack on the borders. However, we quickly discovered that the castle was in fact also built for domestic bliss. Dr Carolyn Donohue informed us that c.1397 Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, started work on the castle to improve the accommodation for his growing family (twenty-two children in all). He also built plenty of rooms on the first floor for important guests to stay in, including Henry IV, who visited the castle in 1410.

Of course, Middleham Castle is more famous for being the childhood home of King Richard III, which probably explains the dark cloud which always seems to hang above Middleham. Richard lived in the castle from 1465, when he was thirteen, and left in 1468. His son Edward was born at Middleham in 1474 and possibly died there, age ten. Despite this being the focus for most tourists visiting Middleham we learnt that Middleham Castle had a long and rich history long before Richard III lived there.

After lunch in the historic market town of Richmond, we visited Richmond Castle. Unlike Middleham, Richmond Castle is visible for miles around thanks to the thoroughly captivating one hundred feet tall keep which utterly dominates the landscape around it. We learnt that the windows in second floor of the keep could have been the windows from which the lord of the castle would issue declarations to the townspeople.

Once inside the castle walls, it is clear how open and light the space within the castle would have been. Within the curtain walls, there is a mostly open space overlooking the town and the river. There would have been more buildings at the height of the castle’s use but it still would have had a considerable amount of open space.

After we learnt about the castle’s history, we were allowed to explore the castle and we climbed the hundreds of steps up to the top of the keep from which the town of Richmond and miles of surrounding countryside can be seen. It is clear once more just how visible the castle would have been to contemporaries and how important this would have made it. Richmond Castle would’ve served as a financial and administrative centre for the market town which built up around it.

Seeing the castles up close and experiencing what they would have been like at the time for ourselves has been critical for our understanding of how they functioned in medieval society. It really puts our learning into perspective. For this opportunity, we must thank Dr Carolyn Donohue and Anthony Smart for taking us on this trip and allowing us to expand our learning and knowledge.