Helmsley Castle

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Helmsley Castle

Helmsley Castle (also Hamlake Castle ) is a medieval castle in the market town of Helmsley in the English county of North Yorkshire .

history

Around 1120 Walter l'Espec built a wooden castle. He died childless in 1154 and so the castle fell to his sister Adelina, who was married to Peter de Roos . In 1186 Robert de Ros , the son of Everard de Roos , began to convert the wooden castle into a stone one. He had two main towers, the round corner towers and the main entrance built on the south side of the castle. He died in 1227 and bequeathed the castle to his older son William , who lived there from 1227 to 1258. The only change to the castle during this time was the construction of a chapel in the courtyard.

William's son, Robert , inherited the castle and was Lord of Helmsley from 1258 to 1285 . He had the east tower built, as well as a new knight's hall and a new kitchen. He also had the castle reinforced. He also had a wall that separates Helmsley Castle into a north and a south part built. The southern half with the new great hall and the east tower was for private use by the Lord's family. The northern half with the old knight's hall was reserved for the steward and other servants. Robert died in 1316.

Helmsley Castle remained in the ownership of the Ros family until 1478. Then Edmund de Ros sold the castle to Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, who later became King Richard III. has been. Richard didn't change anything about the castle; he lived at Middleham Castle instead . After the death of Richard III. at the Battle of Bosworth , King Henry VII returned Helmsley Castle to Edmund de Ros.

The remains of the east tower

Edmund de Ros died childless in 1508 and so the castle fell to his cousin, Sir George Manners from Etal . After his death in 1513, his son Thomas inherited the castle. He was named Earl of Rutland in 1525 . After his death in 1543, his son Henry took his place, but it was not until his grandson Edward built Helmsley Castle again. He had the old knight's hall converted into a mansion in Tudor style and the 13th century chapel into a kitchen, which was connected to the old knight's hall through a covered gallery. He had the new knight's hall torn down. The southern barbican was converted into a comfortable house for that time. A letter dated April 1578 describes the slow progress of the masonry work and states that wood is available for the gallery in the mansion's attic. After Edward's death in 1587, his brother, John Manners , inherited the castle, followed by John's son Roger and then Roger's younger brother Francis . After the death of Francis Manners in 1632, the castle fell to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham , who was married to Francis' daughter Katherine. In 1639 the castle was painted by Alexander Keirincx .

During the English Civil War , Helmsley Castle was besieged by Thomas Fairfax in 1644 . Sir Jordan Crosland considered it the king for three months and then had to surrender. The parliament ordered the demolition of the castle so that it could no longer be used. Most of the walls, gates and part of the east tower were destroyed. But the mansion was spared. The castle then belonged to George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham , who married Mary, daughter of Thomas Fairfax, in 1657.

After his death in 1687, the castle was sold to Charles Duncombe , a banker and politician, who was knighted in 1699 and became Lord Mayor of London in 1708 . His sister Mary's husband, Thomas Brown , inherited the castle after Charles Duncombe's death in 1711. Thomas subsequently changed his family name to "Duncombe". He commissioned John Vanbrugh to build a country house in Duncombe Park that towered over the castle. He left Helmsley Castle to decay. It still belongs to the Feversham family in Duncombe Park today but is managed by English Heritage .

Helmsley Castle from the enclosed garden to the west. The original donjon is on the left. The buildings on the right are apartments that were added in the 1500s.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Burke: A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance. England 1831, p. 452 (Retrieved March 25, 2015).
  2. ^ Seagrave to Rutland . Historical Manuscripts Commission, 12th Report & Appendix, Part 4, Duke of Rutland, Volume 1 (1888), p. 116.
  3. ↑ Laura Roberts: Aristocrat disinherits 'porn baron' son from £ 46 million fortune - Telegraph . In: The Daily Telegraph . Telegraph Media Group. March 2010. Retrieved March 25, 2015.

literature

  • Plantgenet Somerset Fry: The David & Charles Book of Castles . David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3 .

Web links

Commons : Helmsley Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 54 ° 14  '20.8 " N , 1 ° 3' 55.8"  W.