Knaresborough Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Knarsborrow; Cnaresburg

In the civil parish of Knaresborough. In the historic county of Yorkshire West Riding (Modern Authority of North Yorkshire, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

Medieval castle originally built between AD 1100-1160 with reconstruction in 1204-12 but little remains from this period. The present buildings consisting of a keep, gateway and curtain walls date from 1320-60 AD. It was much decayed by 1609. The keep is in fairly good condition and parts of the east gatehouse tower remains but only isolated fragments of the curtain wall survive. The moat from the east gate around the south arc of the castle to the river cliff is intact but landscaping of the north moat has destroyed its character. The castle and its environs have been converted to a public park. (PastScape)
Hidden within the outer ward are two sallyports, underground tunnels which were used for secret entry and exit from the castle. These tunnels are nearly 2.5 metres (8 feet) high and 2 metres (6 feet) wide in places, and are constructed of rough mortared rubble immediately below the ground, and then are hewn through the solid rock. They are easily large enough for a small party of armed men to have secretly left the castle and harass besieging troops. These sallyports slope steeply down to the level of the bottom of the moat, where the soldiers would have emerged secretly under cover of darkness. The exit from the northern sallyport has been completely blocked. by the infill of the moat. The eastern sallyport is now open and accessible by guided tours during the summer season. (Kershaw)
The interesting and unusual King's Tower is the chief remnant, this was built 1307-1312, with direct interest from Edward II. This was given a full analysis by Philip Dixon, in a 1990 Château-Gaillard article, where it is seen as a display of the lordly status of the king's favourite Piers Gaverston

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 330755; 330756)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE34905688

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 53332
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is MNY19028 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.knaresborough.co.uk/castle/ [Based on the guidebook by Kershaw]
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/knaresborough/knaresborough.php#castle
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/104/knaresborough.htm
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/knaresborough.html
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p54-7
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p60-1
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p305
    Higham, R. and Barker, P., 1992, Timber Castles (Batsford) p172
    Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p195
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p520
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p249
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1975, The history of the King's Works Vol3: 1485-1660 (part 1) (London) p179-81
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Garlick, Tom, 1972, Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p20-21
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p687-91
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p206-7
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p57-63
    Braun, Hugh, 1936, The English Castle (Batsford) p56, 99, 112
    Barber, S.C., 1926, The Excavations (1925-6) upon the site of the 'castles' of Knaresborough (Knaresborough)
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p230-2
    Speight, 1894, Nidderdale (London) p281-7 [mediocre]
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p168-76, 230
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol3 (London) p201-3
    Hargrove, Ely, 1798 (5edn), The History of the Castle, Town, and Forest of Knaresborough (York) p1-31
    King, Edward, 1782, Observations on Antient Castles (London) p145-50
    Hargrove, 1782, History of Knaresborough (Knaresborough) p19-45 [mediocre]
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p330
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol6 p128-32
• Journal Articles
  • Goodall, J., 2008, 'A royal gift' Country Life Vol202.3 p72-5
    Dixon, P., 1990, ‘The donjon of Knaresborough: the Castle as Theatre' Château-Gaillard Vol14 p121-39 http://books.google.com/books?id=Yq4cz1Ehl6wC
    1987, ‘The Yorkshire Archaeological Register: 1986' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol59 p200
    Le Patourel, J., 1963-66, 'Knaresborough Castle' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol41 p591-607 [excavation report]
    1962-3, Medieval Archaeology Vol6-7 p324 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Atkinson, 1944-47, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol36 p198-208
    Atkinson, 1936-8, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol33 p175-95
    Atkinson, 1931-34, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol31 p114-131
    Barber, S.C., 1929-31, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol30 p200-24 [excavation report]
    1925, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol31 p266-7
    1923, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol29 p79-83
    1894-5, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol13 p110
    Clark, G.T., 1881, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol6 p98-112 [reprinted in MMA with fewer illustrations]
    1863, Gentleman's Magazine pt1 p638-41 [history]
    King, Edward, 1782, 'Sequel to the observations on Ancient Castles' Archaeologia Vol6 p324-26 [reprinted in Antient Castle]
• Guidebooks
  • Kershaw, Mary J., 1987, Knaresborough Castle (Harrogate Borough Council)
    Barber, S.C., 1947, Knaresborough Castle ( Knaresborough)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p485-6
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#yorks18]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p560-1
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p86 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl01