Conisbrough Castle

A visit for a few days to stay with my mum after her latest hospital visit for her monthly eye check gave me the opportunity to visit the impressive old castle at Conisbrough.

The present 13th-century and later stone castle of Conisbrough probably stands on a site first fortified with earthworks by King William's trusted supporter William of Warenne, soon after the Norman Conquest. Warenne's great-grandaughter married Hamelin Plantagenet - an illegitimate son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and thus half-brother of King Henry II - who built the existing castle at some time between 1163 and 1202, probably during the 1180s. The magnificent keep is very finely built of high-quality stone, and of very unusual and advanced design. Cylindrical keeps, stronger than earlier rectangular keeps with their vulnerable corners, were becoming fashionable in the late 12th century, but only Conisbrough's also features a ring of wedge-shaped buttresses, whose tops may have served as turrets for archers. The curtain walls, built soon after the keep, feature very early examples of semi-circular turrets, another advanced development in castle-building.

Conisbrough Castle hosted short royal visits from King John in 1201, and Edward II in 1322. From 1347 it became part of the estates of the royal Dukes of York: Richard 'of Conisbrough', Earl of Cambridge, younger son of the first duke, was probably born here, and after his execution for plotting against Henry V in 1415 it was occupied by his widow until her death in 1446. Thereafter however it gradually fell out of use, and by 1538 it was already ruinous and indefensible. Thus it avoided damage during the English Civil War.

As a child I remember the keep as a ruined shell, but a few years ago it was re-roofed, and floors put in at the various levels, with period recreations in each room.

Though the castle's famous appearance in Sir Walter Scott's novel 'Ivanhoe' has made Conisbrough famous throughout the world, the events described there are of course purely fictitious.

The shot on the left shows the exterior of the castle keep, while that on the right shows the Lord's chamber inside the keep.

A site well worth a visit, although you will have to wait eight months before it is open again - new visitor facilities are being created close by, and some changes made to the recreations in the various rooms.

Further information from http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/conisbrough-castle/history/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conisbrough_Castle

Ian

[Richard]

nice set of shots

[Graham Thresher]

Some suoer shots.

[Gayanne Campbell]

Beautiful shots

[Bob]

Nice pair of shots and a great history to go with it. I had not seen this style of keep before. Glad they restored it.

[Pyrrhula]

Beautiful pic.`s showing the in and outs of that wonderful castle. Thank you for the very interesting information about it.

[Padlock]

Cracking shot and historic commentary as ever.

[Therese]

lovely shots!!!

[Hazel A]

Great diptych and Interesting information

[Sarah Munnings]

love how the light is falling on the outside of the castle keep

[Malc Bird]

Great shot of the keep and many thanks for the very interesting history

[Molly]

Lovely sharp, bright photos and I enjoyed reading all the information about Conisbrough.

[Karen Matthews]

Thanks for the bit of history. I like seeing both the inside and outside. Soooo interesting!

[bkb in the city]

What an interesting looking building both inside and out

[Fisher Family]

@brav

Thank you Richard - I do enjoy exploring and photographing historic sites

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@thresheg

Thank you Graham - it is a fascinating historical site.

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@zenna

Thank you Gayanne, glad you like them.

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@bobhuegel

Thank you Bob - it is a very unusual design, in fact unique in Britain although there is a smaller and much-ruined keep of similar type and date at Mortemer near Dieppe in northern France.

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@pyrrhula

Thank you Ferry - I do love investigating historical sites!

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@padlock

Thank you Padlock - glad you like it!

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@monkeykid

Thank you Therese - I did take rather a lot of photos and it was hard to know what to share!

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@purplehaze12

Thank you Hazel - the full background story is fascinating!

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@pixiemac

Thank you Sarah - it was amazing how the light changed from my first shot of the outside and this shot taken after I'd spend some time getting shots of the interior, and the panorama from the roof.

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@malc

Thank you Malc - the full story of this castle is quite fascinating.

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@dolphin

Thank you Molly. This is the first time I've taken digital photos in Conisbrough, and it was a fascinating town centre to explore.

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@karenmatthews

Thank you Karen - I love exploring historical sites!

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@bkbinthecity

Thank you Brian - it's a fascinating building and the full story of it's history is quite absorbing.

Ian

[Lee]

Great looking castle.

[colie (Nichole Stewart)]

Beautifully done! 2 great shots

[Fisher Family]

@gamelee

Thank you Lee - it looks most impressive from across the valley too, but I didn't have chance to get across there on this trip.

Ian

[Fisher Family]

@colie

Thank you Colie - I was torn between showing the inside or outside, so I thought I'd better include both!

Ian

[Laura J.]

Wow, that's very cool. Incredible to think of the time period this was done!

[Fisher Family]

@helixconcepts

Thank you Laura - it was an interesting place. I'm looking forward to seeing the new visitor centre when it reopens next spring.

Ian