Bowes Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Bough

In the civil parish of Bowes. In the historic county of Yorkshire North Riding (Modern Authority of Durham, 1974 county of County Durham).

C11 castle built within Roman fort. received stone square keep after 1173, though not any other apparent masonry work. It was reported as being in ruins in 1325, and was said to have been dismantled in C17. Keep ruinious but still impressive. Keep with foundations of forebuilding to east. Circa 1171-87 by Richard the engineer for King Henry II. Sandstone rubble core faced with ashlar and incorporating some Roman masonry. Square plan. 2 storeys standing and ruinous third storey. Double-chamfered plinth. Each face has projecting corners and a broad flat central buttress with set-back wall panels between. Fragmentary roll-moulded band above first floor. East front: remains of forebuilding with triple-chamfered plinth to north; first-floor round-arched north doorway has set-back voussoirs and is flanked by small round-arched openings. South-east corner has slits and contains partly- reconstructed spiral stair. South front: first-floor round-arched hall window of 2 orders (inner order chamfered)to east; several round-headed loops to west. Badly-damaged west front: exposed mural passages and a first-floor garderobe chute to south; projecting section at foot of chute has 2 round-arched openings; fragmentary large windows to north. North front: large round-headed first-floor window with set-back rounded jambs. Interior: ground-floor has several springers for destroyed rib vaults; north-east corner contained first-floor kitchen with fireplace and a simple flue leading out through north wall.
A large well is just outside the wall of the keep. It could have easily been built within the keep, as so often suggested as necessary for defence, but the major consumers of water were horses and no other water supply is nearby. Clearly the difficulty of carting numerous gallons of water through the castle overcame any defensive considerations. The keep has very large windows on the first floor, at a level easily accessible with a short ladder, which give excellent views over the beautiful countryside.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 111195)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is NY99231348

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 981380
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is D2046 '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.bowes.org.uk/castle/welcome.htm
    http://www.dales-castles.org.uk/bowes.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/92/bowescastle.htm
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/bowes/bowes.php#castle
    http://www.keystothepast.info/durhamcc/K2P.nsf/K2PDetail?readform&PRN=D2046
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.122
    http://www.teesarchaeology.com//projects/aerial_photography/gallery/index308.html
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/bowes.html
    http://www.pbase.com/tomstorey/image/48236608
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p25
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p48-9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p288-9
    Jackson, M.J., 1996, Castles of Durham and Cleveland (Carlise) p19-20 [plan]
    Furtado, Peter et al (eds), 1988, Ordnance Survey guide to castles in Britain (London) p175
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p514
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p193
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker) p113-4
    Garlick, Tom, 1972, Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p14-5
    Pevsner, N., 1966, The Buildings of England: York; North Riding (London, Penguin) p85
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p574
    Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p33-5
    Page, Wm (ed), 1923, VCH: York North Riding Vol1 (London) p44-5 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64715#s2
    Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol2 p12-13
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Bailey, J., 1910, History and Antiquities of Bowes
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol2 p211 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland02mack#page/211/mode/1up
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol1 p259-64
    Whellan, T., 1857, History and topography of the city of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire (T Whellan and Co) Vol2 p468-9
    Grainge, W., 1855, Castles and Abbeys of Yorkshire p376-82
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol6 p75-8
• Journal Articles
  • Butler, Lawrence, 1992, 'The Origins of the Honour of Richmond and its Castles' Chateau-Gallard Vol16 p69-80 [Reprinted in Liddiard, Robert, (ed), 2003, Anglo-Norman Castles (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)]
    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
    Anon, 1913, 'Bowes Castle' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p413-4
    Clark, G.T., 1882, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol7 p80-5 [reprinted in MMA]
• Guidebooks
  • Kenyon, Katy, 1999, Barnard Castle, Egglestone Abbey, Bowes Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Simms, 1934, Bowes Castle (HMSO)
• 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] p477-8
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#yorks63]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p339