PICKERING CASTLES

North Riding of Yorkshire

There are two Castles at Pickering, the one pictured above (more about which below) and a second motte Castle of uncertain origin nearby (it may be a siege Castle as it is quite small and low built).

The larger Castle was built most likely founded by William the Conqueror as he travelled north from York, but only emerges from historical obscurity when it was converted to stone in the 1180s by Henry II.  A curtain wall with a gatehouse constructed around some pretty substantial ditches.  This Castle was besieged during the Magna Carta rebellion of 1215 and was damaged quite badly.  Henry III repaired the Castle and added a shell keep to the top of the motte, one of the last examples of this kind of keep.

In 1267 Henry III gave Pickering to his son Edmund 'Crouchback' as part of the newly created Duchy of Lancaster.  Edmund's son Thomas rebelled in 1322 and the Lancastrian estates were confiscated by the Crown.  Edward II undertook some refortification to protect the Castle from the southwards raids of Robert the Bruce; Boroughbridge is not far from here and was the site of one of the decisive battles of the Bruce campaign.

The towers built by Edward II are all square, a very outdated idea as they were added after Edward I's magnificent Welsh Castles had been built.  After Edward II was deposed and put to death at Berkeley Castle, Pickering and the other Lancastrian properties were returned to the Duchy.  After the eventual Lancastrain victory in the Wars of the Roses Pickering's usefulness declined and it began its descent into ruin.

Today the Castle is owned by English Heritage and, along with Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, is one of the best examples of a stone built motte and bailey Castle.

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2001