Pontefract Castle

Infobox UKproperty
property_name = Pontefract Castle
imgage_name = Pontefract Castle.jpg
image_size = 200px
caption =Pontefract Castle in the early 17th Century
type = Castle ruins
NT/EH/RHS = Duchy of Lancaster
Managed = City of Wakefield MDC
area =
main = Castle ruins
other = Underground magazine
public_access = Yes
museum =
exhibition =
country = England
region = Yorkshire and the Humber
gridSquare = SE4622
address = Castle Chain, Pontefract
postcode = WF8 1QH
refreshments = No
parking = Disabled
shop = Yes
webAddress = [http://www.wakefieldmuseums.org/our_sites_pontefract_cas.htm Website]
co_ord =coord|53|41|44|N|1|18|14|W|display=inline,title|region:GB_type:landmark

Pontefract Castle is a castle in the town of Pontefract, in West Yorkshire, England. It was the site of the demise of Richard II of England, and later the place of a series of famous sieges during the English Civil War

Early history

The castle was first constructed in approximately 1070 by Ilbert de Lacy on land which had been granted to him by William the Conqueror as a reward for his support during the Norman conquests. There is, however, evidence of earlier occupation of the site. Initially the castle was a wooden structure, but this was replaced with stone over time.cite web
url=http://www.pontefractus.co.uk/history/pontefract_castle_index.htm
title=Pontefract Castle Index
publisher=www.pontefractus.co.uk
accessdate=2008-07-22
last=
first=]

Robert de Lacy failed to support Henry I of England during his power struggle with his brother and confiscated the castle from the family during the 1100s. The de Lacys lived in the castle until the early 14th century. It was under the tenure of the de Lacys that the magnificent multilobate donjon was built.

In 1311 the castle passed by marriage to the estates of the House of Lancaster. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (1278–1322) was beheaded outside the castle walls six days after his defeat at the Battle of Boroughbridge, a sentence placed on him by the King himself in the great hall. This resulted in the earl becoming a martyr with his tomb at Pontefract Priory becoming a shrine. Later John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III of England, as Duke of Lancaster was so fond of the castle that he made it his personal residence, spending vast amounts of money improving it. Richard II of England (1367–1399) was probably murdered within the castle walls, in the Gascoigne Tower. William Shakespeare's play Richard III mentions this incident:

:Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison, :Fatal and ominous to noble peers! :Within the guilty closure of thy walls:Richard the second here was hack'd to death; :And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, :We give thee up our guiltless blood to drink. [cite web
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2350108
title=BBC - h2g2 - Yorkshire's Castles: Pontefract Castle
publisher=www.bbc.co.uk
accessdate=2008-07-22
last=
first=]

Royalist stronghold

The castle has been a ruin since 1644 when it held as a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War cite web
url=http://www.wakefieldmuseums.org/our_sites_pontefract_cas.htm
title=Pontefract Castle
publisher=www.wakefieldmuseums.org
accessdate=2008-07-22
last=
first=] and besieged at least three times by Parliamentarian forces, the latter being responsible for the castle's present dilapidated state and many of its scars. Pontefract Castle was noted by Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Parliamentarians, as " [...] one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom".cite web
url=http://www.duchyoflancaster.co.uk/output/page32.asp
title=The Duchy of Lancaster - Yorkshire
publisher=www.duchyoflancaster.co.uk
accessdate=2008-07-22
last=
first=]

Apparently the destruction of the castle at the conclusion of the Second English Civil War had the full support of the surrounding population. They were grateful to destroy the castle and thus stop the fighting in their area. In the view of the locals, the castle was a magnet for trouble.

It is still possible to visit the castle's 11th century cellars which were used to store military equipment during the civil war.

Description of the castle

The most remarkable feature of the current site is the remains of the donjon. Very few examples of this multilobed type exist. One is Clifford's Tower in nearby York. An identical example to York can be found at Étampes, France.

ee also

* Pontefract Cakes

References

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/sense_of_place/unexplained/pontefract_castle_history.shtml Bloody Pomfret]
* [http://www.wildyorkshire.co.uk/naturediary/docs/pomfmap.html A walk on the wild side]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2350108 H2g2 history]