Richmond Castle

The keep from inside the castle walls. Photograph courtesy of English Heritage.

If you are visiting Richmond, you can hardly miss the imposing castle that looks out over the town and the Swale valley below – one of the must-sees in this bustling market town. Indeed, you can understand why its Norman founders chose this spot to build their fortress, with its magnificent views towards the Yorkshire Dales.

Richmond Castle's 12th century keep is 100 foot tall and towers above the town. Photograph courtesy of English Heritage.

Work started on the Castle shortly after the Norman invasion, with Alan the Red, one of William the Conqueror’s allies, selecting the spot around 1071, and the oldest parts of the Castle you can see today date from this period. Around a century later, the towering keep was added, a further display of strength with walls up to 11 feet thick in places – this was a castle built to withstand attack, and indeed, visitors today can still climb up to the top of the keep to enjoy the same views the medieval soldiers would have enjoyed.

Visitors can climb to the top of the keep to get stunning views of Richmond and the surrounding countryside. Photograph courtesy of English Heritage.

Over the years, a number of legends have grown up around Richmond Castle – one tells of a local potter who stumbled across a hidden entrance to the tomb of King Arthur, where he was told that the Knights of the Round Table were sleeping beneath the castle and would awaken when England needed them. Another, rather spookier story, tells of the exploits of a group of soldiers who wanted to explore the catacombs beneath the Castle. Believing there was a secret passage linking the Castle to nearby Easby Abbey, they sent a drummer boy down, beating his drum as he walked, so they could follow his path. Unfortunately, the boy never emerged again, but the story tells that you can sometimes hear the ghostly drum beats coming from the hidden tunnels.

The walls of Richmond Castle look down on the River Swale. Photograph courtesy of English Heritage.

The Castle has seen a good deal of action over the last 950 years, both in combat and as a prison. Two medieval kings of Scotland were imprisoned here, and much more recently, conscientious objectors to World War I were locked up in the castle. Their story is told in the interactive exhibition within Richmond Castle’s visitor centre.

A more recent development is the contemporary Cockpit Garden at the far end of the site, which was opened in 2000 as part of the Castle’s Millennium celebrations.

The honey-coloured sandstone of the keep gives it a mellow appearance. Photograph courtesy of English Heritage.

Richmond Castle is open daily from 1 April to 30 September from 10.00am to 6.00pm, Thursday to Monday from 1 October to 4 November (10.00am to 4.00pm), and weekends (10.00am to 4.00pm) during the winter months. Admission prices are £4.70 for adults, £4.20 for concessions and just £2.80 for children, or free for English Heritage members.

For more details, please call 01748 822493 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/richmond

For more information on Richmond, see here: www.hello-yorkshire.co.uk/richmond/tourist-information, and for some great ideas for places to stay, see here: www.hello-yorkshire.co.uk/richmond/accommodation