Filed under: History, Learning, Europe, United Kingdom
Yorkshire has always been a troubled region of England. It was on the front line of fighting between the English and the Scots and saw lots of action in the English Civil War, when the forces of Parliament under Oliver Cromwell fought the Royalists supporting King Charles I. Because of this, many castles dot the landscape, including some of the most magnificent the country has to offer. Here are five of the best.
York Castle
Dominating the skyline of the city of York is this unusual fortification, often referred to as Clifford's Tower. The first fort here was built by the Normans in 1068 and was a motte-and-bailey castle. A wooden stockade and tower sat atop a large artificial mound. Around the base of the mound was another enclosure protected by a moat and wooden stockade. Motte-and-bailey castles were cheap and quick to build and provided sufficient protection against the rather basic siege techniques of the time. The Normans threw up hundreds of these in the years immediately following their conquest of England.
In 1190 the castle sheltered the city's Jewish population during an antisemitic riot started by a man who owed money to a Jewish moneylender and didn't feel like paying it back. The castle warden let the Jews hide there, but when he went out to talk to the mob the Jews wouldn't let him back in, fearing the townsmen would swarm in with him. The warden lost patience and called out the militia, which besieged the castle. The tower caught fire and the Jews committed suicide rather than fall into the hands of the mob. About 500 people died.
Like many motte-and-bailey castles, the wooden tower was eventually replaced with stone, in this case an odd design of four semicircles. The rounded walls helped deflect shots from catapults and in 1644 proved useful against cannon too. Local Royalist forces held out against a Parliamentarian army for several weeks before finally surrendering when it became apparent that no help was coming.
Gallery: Yorkshire castles
Continue reading Top five best castles of YorkshireTop five best castles of Yorkshire originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments
No comments:
Post a Comment