On our first Moorsbus trip of 2021, and the poor weather meant that we did rather more riding than originally planned, and that included a stop in Helmsley of just over an hour. Time for lunch, and a short walk around the town.
Helmsley castle is an impressive range of buildings and defensive ditches. We didn't have time to look around it, but I took these two shots of the east tower. The first is from a picnic area to the north-west and the second from the north-east.
The original wooden castle was built around 1120, but was later rebuilt in stone. This tower was left half demolished as a result of the English civil war. During the civil war, the castle was besieged by Parliamentary forces led by Sir Thomas Fairfax in 1644. Sir Jordan Crosland held it for the king for three months before surrendering. Parliament ordered the castle to be slighted and much of the walls, gates and part of the east tower were destroyed. Much of the demolished tower remains can be found in a defensive ditch beside the tower.
Wonderful to see in person. I enjoy visiting places like this and I normally prepare myself with full information on its history so that I can enjoy it better.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
We had a lovely day, despite the weather, and it was nice to meet up with people on the bus who we hadn't seen for a long time.
Ian
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Thank you Nina - this is a fascinating set of ruins to explore, but sadly we didn't have time to do a tour.
Ian