Wark-on-Tweed Castle

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The ruins of Wark-on-Tweed Castle

Wark-on-Tweed Castle , also known as Carham Castle , is a ruined castle in the British county of Northumberland . The ruin, protected as a Grade II * cultural monument and a Scheduled Monument , is located on the western edge of the village of Wark-on-Tweed south of the Tweed , which forms the border between England and Scotland on its lower reaches . As an English border castle, the castle was often contested in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period.

history

Wark Castle was originally built by Walter Espec at the beginning of the 12th century as earth and wood fortifications. In 1138 the castle was attacked by King David I of Scotland during the Anarchy . Although his advance to England was stopped on August 22nd in the standard battle, he still besieged Wark Castle until the crew surrendered on November 11th 1138 on the orders of Walter Espec against the assurance of free withdrawal. After the Anarchy, the new English King Henry II claimed Northumberland again for England, whereupon the Scottish King Malcolm IV handed over the region including Wark Castle to him without a fight. In return, Malcom was named Earl of Huntingdon . Henry II had the castle expanded as a stone castle from 1158, so that it was able to repel an attack by King William of Scotland in 1174 . In 1200 King Johann Ohneland handed the castle over to Baron Robert de Ros , who, however, rebelled against the king during the First Barons' War . As a result, the king conquered and destroyed Wark Castle in his advance to northern England in late 1215 and early 1216. The castle initially remained in royal possession, only under the rule of Henry III. Ros got the castle back. Ros or his son William de Ros had the castle rebuilt. In 1255 Heinrich III met. with the Scottish King Alexander III. to negotiations in the castle.

King Edward I stayed at the castle in November 1292 when he returned to England from Scotland. In the Scottish Wars of Independence , which began shortly thereafter , the castle played a bigger role again. In 1296 the English army moved from Wark to the battle of Dunbar . Even Edward II. Looked at June 10, 1314 here his army before he went to his campaign in Scotland, in the defeat of Bannockburn ended. As a result of the English defeat, northern England was repeatedly plundered by the Scots over the next few years, who also attacked and seriously damaged Wark Castle. When the castle was handed over to William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury in 1329 , it was considered derelict. Nevertheless, she withstood a Scottish siege in 1342.

According to legend, the celebration took place in Wark Castle, at which King Edward III. danced with the Countess of Salisbury , which lost her garter. The king picked it up and, at the laughter of the courtiers, announced that the garter would soon be a badge of honor. A little later he founded the Order of the Garter . Towards the end of the 14th century, the castle was owned by Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland . Sir Thomas Gray (1359-1400) bought them in September 1398. The following year it was captured and looted again during a Scottish attack. Another attack took place in 1460 when King James II defeated King Henry VI of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses . supported.

The castle was still owned by the Gray family when it was attacked and conquered by the Scots under James IV in 1513 . The Scots were defeated at the Battle of Flodden Field on September 9th , after which the castle fell back to the English. On royal orders, the castle was now to be expanded in order to withstand sieges with artillery. After the crew made a successful raid on Scotland in early 1523, the castle was attacked in November 1523 by Scottish-French troops under John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany . The attackers bombarded the castle with artillery for two days, and only the arrival of an English relief army under Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey saved the castle from capture. As a result, the castle was expanded into a contemporary fortress over the next few years. Nevertheless, the castle was destroyed in a Scottish raid in 1548. After the Scottish King James VI. 1603 became King of England, the border fortress lost its importance. In 1633 the crew was withdrawn. During the English Civil War , the castle was briefly reoccupied by a Scottish garrison in 1644 after Scotland had allied itself with the English Parliament against Charles I. After that, however, the castle fell into disrepair. The outer and middle courtyard were built over by the village of Wark-on-Tweed, with the ruins of the castle serving as a quarry.

The remains of the castle are freely accessible today.

investment

The castle was built on a terminal moraine from the Ice Age , from which a strategically important ford over the River Tweed could be controlled. The first earth and wood fortifications consisted of three castle courtyards, the inner one of which was dominated by a moth with a wooden tower. The middle and outer courtyards were east of the Motte in the area that is now overbuilt by the village. From 1158 the castle was given a stone curtain wall, which also enclosed the middle and outer courtyards. Presumably around this time the wooden tower on the Motte was replaced by an octagonal but irregular stone shellkeep . After 1523, a four-story gun turret called The Ring was built in place of the Keep . Remains of this tower are still preserved on the medieval castle hill.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Historic England: THE CASTLE OF WARK ON TWEED. Retrieved November 15, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Past Perfect: Wark Castle: The Garter Legend. Retrieved November 15, 2015 .

Coordinates: 55 ° 38 ′ 29.8 "  N , 2 ° 16 ′ 55.1"  W.