Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire
Distance Travelled from London: 255 miles
Seated it is in a very pleasant place, that bringeth forth Liquirice and skirworts [water parsnips] in great plenty, adourned also with faire buildings, and hath to shew a stately Castle as a man shall see, situate upon a rocke no lesse goodly to the eie than safe for the defence, wel fortified with ditches and bulwarkes. William Camden
By Monday 10 April, Henry VII was making his way northwards, towards Pontefract. Roughly halfway between Doncaster and his intended destination, the Herald records that Henry was met by Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland ‘and a right great and noble company’ at Barnsdale, ‘a little beyond Robin Hood’s Stone’. In The Herald’s Memoir, Emma Cavell notes that Barnsdale was an area of forest covering about thirty square miles. It was notorious for harbouring outlaws. ‘Robin Hood’s Stone’ seems to have been a boundary marker sited close to the old Great North Road (now the A1). Although now long lost, in its time, when there was little round-abouts, it was clearly a noteworthy landmark.
The royal entourage was swelling in a show of allegiance to the King. Thirty-three knights rode alongside the Earl, as well as squires and yeomen. These knights’ names are listed in The Herald’s Memoir of accompanying the King to Pontefract, where they arrived the same day, 10 April.
Already, Pontefract Castle was notorious for its murderous history. Aside from the Tower in London, it is hard to think of a more foreboding or grisly fortress in England. At Pontefract, Thomas, 1st Earl of Lancaster, was beheaded on the orders of King Edward II; Richard II met an untimely end there, which, according to William Camden ‘with hunger, cold, and strange kinds of torments, most wickedly made away’. Then, just three years before Henry’s visit, Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, and Richard, Lord Grey, brother and son of the queen dowager, Elizabeth Woodville, were executed within the castle by command of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, as part of his manoeuvrings towards taking the throne for himself. It was a chilling act of sheer ruthlessness.
We only have to look at surviving etchings and oil paintings, which capture the castle as it appeared before its destruction shortly after the English Civil War, to know that Pontefract’s reputation as the key fortress of the north was well deserved. According to Ian Roberts, a principal archaeologist with the West Yorkshire Archaeological Society, ‘the oil painting [of Pontefract Castle] of 1625, variously attributed to Joos de Momper or Alexander Keirincx … [although] a bit stylised, almost certainly [gives] the most realistic image of the exterior’.
What is immediately striking when we look at these images is the sheer enormity of the defences. The castle was ‘built on an elevated rock, commanding extensive and picturesque views.’ An early nineteenth-century account of the castle (taken from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction), from which this latter quote derives, goes on to paint a vivid picture of the castle’s environs:
‘The north-west prospect takes in the beautiful vale along which flows the Aire, skirted by woods and plantations. It is bounded only by the hills of Craven. The north and east prospect is more extensive, but the scenery is not equally striking and impressive. The towers of York Minster are distinctly seen, and the prospect is only bounded by the limits of vision …To the south and southwest, the towering hills of Derbyshire, stretching towards Lancashire, form the horizon, while the foreground is a picturesque country variegated with handsome residences.’
The main entrance to Pontefract Castle was from the south. Entering under the barbican and across a short bridge spanning a deep gully that connected the castle to the town, the royal entourage would have ridden through an enclosed courtyard before reaching the main castle gatehouse or Porter’s Lodge. This substantial building comprised two stately towers and a portcullis. Beyond this gatehouse lay the main castle yard. Having visited first Nottingham and now Pontefract Castles, Henry VII was acquainting himself with the full defensive might of England’s frontier with the north.
Surrounding the castle yard were its defensive walls. The 1625 oil painting of Pontefract clearly shows how these walls are pitched by various degrees, dictated by the contours of the plateau upon which the castle rested. The walls were topped by a crenulated parapet and interrupted at intervals by seven substantial square towers. The eighth tower is made up of the enormous and rather fanciful keep perched atop the motte. In his contemporary Itinerary, Leland describes this keep by saying that it ‘takes the form of three large and three small round turrets’, with its walls said to be 21 feet thick.
The Royal Apartments at Pontefract Castle
By the late fifteenth century, the keep’s staterooms had been abandoned and were largely used as an arsenal, but according to Roberts they ‘may have retained some accommodation’. Along with service buildings such as the great kitchen, privy kitchen, larder and scullery, the King and Queen’s lodgings had been moved and arranged around the entire northern wall of the defensive circuit, leaving the central bailey largely clear of buildings. At some point, this was probably converted into a garden.
The specific buildings of interest in relation to Henry VII are the Great Hall and the King’s Tower, which Roberts states was ‘almost certainly built on the orders of John of Gaunt before 1420 when they were first documented’. This tower can be seen in the 1625 painting of the castle on the far right.
The evidence that we have for the arrangement of the royal apartments at Pontefract comes from a survey carried out in 1643. It appears that the hall was located at the first-floor level, with an undercroft beneath; two separate passages linked it to the private royal apartments; the first to the Queen’s Tower via the hall’s west end, the second to the King’s Tower in the east. It is in these rooms that Henry undoubtedly lodged, ‘until the Thursday next following’.
We hear nothing of what transpired during Henry’s stay in the castle, but there must have been a constant stream of intelligence arriving, updating the king on the rebels’ movements. When the Herald states that the king departed on Thursday 13 April, he was accompanied by ‘great nobless’…and… ‘a marvellous great number of esquires, gentlemen and yeomen – in defensible array.’ By this time, Henry knew that those rebels, loyal to the Yorkist cause, were only 40 miles to the north in Ripon, and beyond in Middleham, deep in the heart of traditional Yorkist territory. In hindsight, the Herald goes on to say that ‘understanding the king’s might’ the rebels dispersed within two days. However, when Henry headed out of Pontefract, he would not have known how the wind would blow and whether he might be called again to take up arms to defend the throne.
The Destruction of Pontefract Castle
The military might of Pontefract was notorious in England. Even Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War and later Lord Protector, once wrote of Pontefract,
‘[The castle] is very well known as one of the strongest inland Garrisons in the Kingdom; well-watered; situated in rock in every part of it; and therefore, difficult to mine. The walls are very thick and high, with strong towers; and if battered, very difficult to access, by reason of the depth and steepness of the graft.’
However, it did not stop the Parliamentarian forces from besieging it three times. According to The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction:
‘This third siege was the most destructive to the castle: the tremendous artillery had shattered its massive walls, and its demolition was completed by order of Parliament. The buildings were unroofed, and within two months after its reduction, all the materials were sold. Thus, was this princely fortress reduced to a heap of ruins.’
Visitor Information
On the day that I visited Pontefract Castle, brooding, grey skies rather fittingly reflected the dark reputation of this now ruined fortress. I drove from the south toward what was once a highly strategic northern town; the gentle, undulating landscape of south Yorkshire pricked here and there with the brutalism of concrete towers arising from nearby twentieth-century power stations. Although the town has emerged from the grime of the Industrial Revolution, Pontefract can hardly be designated a town of great natural beauty and therefore, tends not to be on the main tourist trail. Thus, on a typical day, you are more likely to find yourself accompanied by locals walking their dogs than fellow time travellers seeking to reveal the castle’s hidden history.
The climb to the castle is steady, reminding the visitor of the building’s long-standing dominance over the surrounding countryside. However, today you will find that the view is almost entirely obscured by trees, except on top of the castle’s motte, where the keep was once located. The visitor has access to all that remains of this once renowned behemoth, its innermost precinct, including some of the foundation stones making up the royal apartments. Information boards around the site will help you orient yourself with the principal landmarks: the keep, the great kitchen, the great hall, the King’s Tower and the Norman and Elizabethan chapels. It is an evocative place where the brutality of men saw much noble bloodshed.
The car park for the castle is just adjacent to the foot of its walls. Parking is free for up to four hours, as is entry to the castle grounds. Next to the entrance is a visitor centre. A small museum tells the castle’s story; guidebooks, snacks, drinks, and gifts are on sale. Toilets are also on-site. Once covered by formal gardens, the large, grassy area is ideal for a picnic. The grounds are immaculate, making this an excellent place for children to run around freely. Also, for those of you who are dog lovers, your canine companions are welcome but must be kept under control.
Pontefract Castle is owned and run by Wakefield Council. A wide range of special events are held on-site throughout the year, and guided tours of the dungeons currently run every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. If you are planning a visit, we recommend that you check out the website at https://www.pontefractcastle.co.uk/
Postcode for Pontefract Castle Car Park: WF8 2JF.
THE NEXT STOP ON THE PROGRESS IS THE FINAL DESTINATION ON THIS NORTHERN LEG OF THE PROGRESS ‘YORK’. Click here to continue on your way.
Nearby Locations of Tudor Interest:
The Royal Armouries (15 miles) Visit the Royal Armouries to see some of the armour belonging to Henry VIII, including pieces made for the Field of Cloth of Gold.
Temple Newsam (19 miles) The birthplace of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, whose mother was the formidable Margaret Douglas, niece of Henry VIII.
Cawood Castle (15 miles) A ruined palace belonging to the Archbishop of York with an illustrious roll-call of royal and high-status visitors, including Henry VIII and Catherine Howard. It was also the place in which Thomas Wolsey was arrested for treason. The Landmark Trust owns this property, but you can view the remains of the gatehouse range (the only part to survive) from the outside.
Wressle Castle (27 miles) Ruins remain of a once lavish country house, which Henry VIII and Katherine Howard visited during the 1541 progress.
Sources and Further Reading
The Herald’s Memoir 1486-1490: Court, Ceremony and Royal Progress. Edited by Emma Cavell. 2009.
The Itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543, by John Leland.
Various. Pontefract Castle. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. XIX. No. 531. January 28, 1832.
Pontefract Castle, by Ian Roberts West Yorkshire Archaeology Service, 1990.
In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII, by Sarah Morris and Natlaie Gruneninger. Amberley Publishing. 2015.
