Castles & Abbeys
The North-East and North Yorkshire has an array of castles, abbeys
and stately homes which, if they could talk, would tell a story that
would entrance children and adults alike. The history in this region
goes back thousands of years. Many of the invaders of resident people/tribes
attempted to establish their position or protect their land by building
forts and castles. Meanwhile, priories and abbeys were the well-spring
of so much progress in literature and the arts as monastic culture
flourished, especially before the Reformation.
In Yorkshire, Castle Bolton, Helmsley Castle, Scarborough Castle
and Richmond Castle are just a few of the magnificent structures
that experienced the drama of political intrigue and battles.
North Yorkshire is also home to World Heritage Sites: Fountains
Abbey and Studley Royal Estate. Fountains Abbey, set amongst Studley
Royal Water Garden, is one of Europe’s most remarkable places
- a golden-stoned 12th century abbey in complete harmony with an
immaculately crafted Georgian water garden. John Aislabie created
the water garden, his son, William, created the 'natural' landscaped
gardens. The 800-acre World Heritage Site is in the care of the
National Trust.
Whitby, North Yorkshire, is famous for Whitby Abbey. The ruins
on the site of St. Hilda's community sit dramatically on the cliff
top and are visible for miles. They have experienced a turbulent
history and many raids and attacks, most recently in 1914, when
German battleships sailed northwards and turned their guns inland
to fire on the town of Whitby. Next to Whitby Abbey is St Mary’s
Church - both are reached by climbing the 199 steps from the fishing
town below. The church offers a strange mix of styles, Norman architecture
with Georgian windows and Victorian partitions within.
The southern part of North Yorkshire is home to the largest mediaeval
Gothic cathedral north of the Alps, York Minster. The Minister is
world-renowned as a treasure house of 800 years of stained glass.
It is also home to some of the finest 14th and 15th century windows
in existence.
The castles of County Durham offer equally dramatic settings and
interesting histories. Barnard Castle, in the town of the same name,
sits on the north side of the River Tees. The castle was built by
Bernard Baliol in the 12th century. Bernard's family were of Norman
origin and of high influence. His father Guy De Baliol was the Lord
of Verney, Dampierre, Harcourt and Bailleul and Baron of Teesdale,
Stokesley and Bywell on the Tyne. Many important people in history
stayed at the castle, which today is a ruin. Visitors included Richard
III, Henry VII, Warwick the Kingmaker.
County Durham is also home to Raby Castle, one of the largest
and most impressive Medieval castles in Europe. It has many towers,
turrets, embattled walls, gardens and artworks from the Medieval,
Regency and Victorian periods. Raby Castle was built in the mid
14th century on the site of an earlier fortified manor house by
the powerful Neville family who owned it until the Rising of the
North in 1569. It has been the home of Lord Barnard's family since
1626.
Further north in Northumberland, many castles links with the Border
wars, including Alnwick Castle, Aydon Castle and Belsay Castle in
Northumberland. These buildings were constructed during the 14th and
16th centuries when the family clans of the border hills lived in
their own state of semi-lawlessness. Wars raged between England and
Scotland through the 14th to the 16th centuries, and sheep stealing
and burning each others homes was a way of life. They were known as
the Border Reivers. Today their descendants can be found all over
the world and include the first man on the moon.
For 400 years from the time of Edward I until the Union of Parliaments
(Between England and Scotland) in 1707, Northumberland was the scene
of one of the longest running border conflicts the world has ever
known. Feuding families, known as Reivers, with names such as Elliott,
Armstrong, Charlton, Robson and Turnbull fought a seemingly endless
series of raids and reprisals across the border hills.
There were famous battles, too, including Otterburn in 1388 and
Flodden (north of Wooler) in 1513. As a result, there are now more
castles, bastles (fortified farm buildings) and pele towers in Northumberland
than in any other English county. |
