Helmsley Castle

Helmsley Castle (also known anciently as Hamlake) is a medieval castle situated in the market town of Helmsley, within the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England.

Although the estate of Helmsley was granted to Robert, Count of Mortain following the Norman Conquest; there is no evidence that he built a castle in the area. The castle, constructed in wood around 1120, was built by Walter l'Espec. It is positioned on a rocky outcrop overlooking the River Rye. Featuring double ditches surrounding a rectangular inner bailey, the castle bears little resemblance to the motte and bailey castles built at the time (such as the nearby Pickering Castle). The castle at Helmsley was only 1.9 miles (3 km) from Rievaulx Abbey and Walter l'Espec granted the land for the abbey. Aelred, who was the abbey's first novice master, was known to be involved in l'Espec's affairs (military and personally) and Helmsley was often used as a place of safety during periods of instability.

Walter had no surviving children although tradition claims he had a son who died falling from his horse when young, and on Walter's death in 1153 the castle passed to his sister Adelina who had married Peter de Roos. In 1186 Robert de Ros, son of Everard de Ros, began work on converting the castle to stone. He built two main towers, the round corner towers and the main gateway on the south side of the castle. He died in 1227, granting the castle to his older son William who lived there from 1227 to 1258. The only change made to the castle during this time was the construction of the chapel in the courtyard.

William's son, Robert, inherited the castle and was Lord of Helmsley from 1258 to 1285. His marriage to Isabel d'Aubigny (heiress to Belvoir Castle) funded the building of the new hall and kitchen, as well as strengthening the castle. This may include the building of the impressive south barbican which was constructed between 1227 and 1285. He built a wall dividing the castle into north and south sides, with the southern half for the private use of the lord's family in the new hall and east tower, and the northern half containing the old hall to be used by the steward and other castle officials. The strengthening of the castle continued into Robert's son William's life. William de Ros II died in 1316.

Text adapted from “Helmsley Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Helmsley Castle ranks #3,129 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #211 of the 333 mapped in England. Founded c. 1120, it is older than 85% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 564 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,799 times in the last 60 days, more than 64% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sunderland, 76 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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