Helmsley Castle. The East Tower THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 80
Helmsley Castle The castle, built on a rocky outcrop above the river Rye, is one of the country s most impressive castles, even in its ruined state. Walter Espec, founder of nearby Rievaulx Abbey, built the castle in the early twelfth century (after 1122), although we cannot be certain whether the impressive banks and ditches date to his time or to the period from around 1200 when Robert de Ros Il (Fursan) transformed the castle. On Espec s death about 1154 Helmsley passed to his brother-in-law, Peter de Ros I, and the castle remained in the hands of the family and their descendants into the seventeenth century. In the twelfth century a wall running south-west/northeast divided the castle in two halves; we cannot be certain if the wall was fronted by a ditch. Robert de Ros II (d. 1226/7) transformed Espec s castle with a curtain wall with north and south gatehouses and mural towers. In the centre of the east curtain is the east tower, heightened in the early fourteenth century, with its rounded front now lying in the ditch after destruction following the 1644 siege of the royalist stronghold. On the west side lies Ros s chamber block, with the attached west tower. The main approach to the castle, through the earthworks of the outer bailey on the southern side, was strengthened later in the thirteenth century with a barbican consisting of a twin- towered gatehouse from which a line of curtain ran to a mural tower to the east and west, and the south gate strengthened with a drawbridge pit. The north gate, which led to the castle gardens by this time, had a smaller barbican. A chapel was dedicated in the mid-thirteenth century, awkwardly angled close to the east tower. From the later thirteenth century and in the early fourteenth some work was undertaken on the defences, linking the south barbican to the main body of the castle, with accommodation added to the south barbican, including a latrine in the gatehouse. Within the castle a new hall was built, presumably replacing an earlier one, with a range that incorporated the kitchen, pantry and buttery, and the west tower was extended outwards by one bay, heightened and re-fenestrated. Later buildings include a bakehouse and brewhouse in the north-west corner, while the chamber block and west tower were transformed as part of an Elizabethan mansion belonging to the Manners family, earls of Rutland, with a long gallery running across the site from the medieval chamber block. After the battle of Marston Moor in July 1644, and the subsequent fall of the city of York, Sir Thomas Fairfax turned his attention to Helmsley Castle in August. The siege lasted several months, during which Fairfax was wounded. A major royalist attempt to relieve the siege was unsuccessful and in November the castle s commander, Sir Jordan Crosland, set out terms for a surrender in a letter that now resides in the British Library. The terms were accepted, with the garrison being allowed to march out freely to join the garrison at Scarborough Castle. The castle at this time was owned by the duke of Buckingham, and the terms stated that the dowager duchess s possessions would remain in the castle under Fairfax s protection; Fairfax would later acquire the castle, in 1650. The Elizabethan mansion appears to have survived the siege and remained occupied until at least the later seventeenth century, until new owners of the estate built Duncombe Park, the new house dating from 1713. Description The South Barbican The main approach to the castle is via the earthworks of the outer bailey; geophysical survey of this area has shown that some masonry buildings survive, but along with the section of curtain wall on the Victoria County History plan, there is no indication of the date of these features. Beyond stands the impressive south barbican, the best surviving section of the medieval defences. The gatehouse frontage and passage were refurbished in the later sixteenth century, with a handsome tympanum and arcading (one of the features of the historiography of the castle is the difference in opinion over these features of the gatehouse!). THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 81
The East Tower Passing over to and through the south gate, noting the wing walls, drawbridge pit and postern doorways, one enters the core of the castle. In front, on the eastern side, are the rear and side walls of the great east tower, with the remnants of the rounded face lying in the ditch below. Built originally about 1200, it then consisted of vaulted basement with an upper chamber. In the early fourteenth century the tower was heightened to create additional stately rooms, with paired ( eared ) turrets, and it is possible that it is in this tower that King Edward III was lodged in 1334. The uppermost floor was vaulted after a fire had damaged the tower. The Kitchen Range and Hall Moving across to the kitchen range, one passes the mid-thirteenth-century chapel, seemingly converted into a kitchen or lodging in the late sixteenth century, and the castle s well. The kitchen and adjacent hall form part of the improvements made to the castle from the end of the thirteenth century onwards. The kitchen itself leads into the pantry, with the buttery by the corner mural tower, in which is a furnace for brewing ale. A small room in the middle of the range may have housed a member of the household who could check on the food that had been prepared. The large hall, entered from a screens passage, was aisled, and the dais was set at the northern end, close to and accessible from the west tower and chamber block. The nearest building that gives some idea of the scale of the hall is the structure that is now a barn at Sinnington, a few miles to the east of Helmsley. The West Tower and Chamber Block The west tower was the solar tower to the adjacent chamber block. The range was originally built by Robert de Ros Il in about 1200, although major improvements were made to the tower in the fourteenth century, with new windows and an upper floor, as well as latrines at each level. However much of the appearance of the chamber block is due to the Elizabethan refurbishment from the 1570s. it was in the 1570s that an attic was added to the west tower, and earlier windows blocked in the western face in order to take fireplaces, and the floor levels were adjusted. A feature of the basement of the west tower is the evidence for the hazel centring and the sockets in the vaulting in which the centring would have been held in position. Some features of the original medieval chamber block remain, such as evidence for doorways and windows, as well as a staircase that led to a doorway that opened on to a bridge across the ditch. The main accommodation lay at first floor level, a private chamber, with a latrine block added about 1300. The rooms were altered on both the floors from the 1570s, were re-fenestrated, including oriel windows, with new fireplaces, panelling and decorated ceilings, and the heraldry depicting the coat of arms of the Manners family. Additions were also made to the latrine tower. The foundations of the long gallery, timber on stone footings, run across the site from the Elizabethan chamber block and its loggia. The Brewhouse and Bakehouse In the north-west corner of the castle are the remains of structures built in the later fifteenth century, when the brewing of beer became more common, or in the sixteenth century. The North Gate and North Curtain Wall The gate is twin-towered, with circular towers at either end of the north curtain, the latter with posterns. The internal rooms of the towers vary in shape, and the north-east tower has a secondary turret on its outer face. Beyond the gatehouse is the barbican. The gatehouse led out to an area occupied by gardens, now occupied by the long-stay car park. The West Range Exterior and Parks The visitor is encouraged to find time to walk around the rampart on the west side of the castle, from the north gate and turning left, to appreciate the exterior of the chamber block and the west tower. This range overlooks two of the medieval parks associated with the castle, and traces of the earthwork that surrounded the new park, lying in the grounds of Duncombe Park, are traceable. [See also the review of the EH Helmsley Castle guidebook in this Journal pp. 303-306]. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 82
Helmsley Castle plan English Heritage/Historic England CSG Annual Conference - April 2017 - Helmsley THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 83
ABOVE: Helmsley. The south barbican gatehouse. Its central section with the darker stone, between the rounded towers was remodelled in the 16th century. BELOW: A reconstruction drawing by Philip Corke, of the south barbican in about 1300, showing the approach to the gatehouse and the possible line of hourdings across the full face of the barbican curtain. From the EH guidebook Helmsley Castle, by Jonathan Clark, of 2004. English Heritage. Image taken from the onsite display panel. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 84
The Evolution of Interpretation ABOVE: The drawing (detail) by Alan Sorrell shows the castle as it may have looked in about 1580, after the the hall had been converted into a mansion by Edward Manners [and the barbican gate had been upgraded in Renaissance style]. From the 1990 EH guidebook by Glyn Coppack. BELOW: The digitised modelling (detail) of the same section of the castle from the 2017 EH guidebook by John Kenyon, and the way all current reconstructions are handled. This is of the same period and is captioned Reconstruction of the castle in about 1600 following the creation of the Tudor mansion (by Peter Urmston). There are virtues in each of the different approaches. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 85
The South Barbican from the east. With the bridge and gatehouse left of centre and the east corner tower to the right. Building the towers and curtain commenced c. mid 13th century. The towers were originally open backed. Inset. An internal arrow-loop embrasure of the tower, which do not appear to have any cross-slits. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 86
Helmsley Castle, the West Tower. Built originally by Robert de Ros II in about 1200, the tower has gone through a number of significant alterations. Much new revised / additional information on this and the adjoining Chamber Block is contained in the new 2017 guidebook. See pp. 303-306. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 87
Helmsley Castle. The East Tower from within the outer bailey. From Francis Grose s Antiquities of England and Wales, (London) Vol. 8, 1787. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 88
Bibliography Kenyon, John R., 2017, Helmsley Castle (London: English Heritage) Barnwell, P. S. Conclusion: contexts and approaches, in M. Airs and P. S. Barnwell (eds), The Medieval Great House, 243-50. (Donington, 2011). Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) passim Clark, J., 2004, Helmsley Castle North Yorkshire (London: English Heritage) Jackson, M. J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlisle), 27-30 (plan) Coppack, G., 1997 (rev. edn), Helmsley Castle North Yorkshire (London: English Heritage) Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press), 290-1 Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles from the Air (Cambridge University Press), 129-31 King, D. J. C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2, 518 Ryder, P. F., 1982 (paperback edn 1992), The Medieval Buildings of Yorkshire (Ash Grove Book) 87-107 Renn, D. F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker),188, 204 Sorrell, Alan, 1973, British Castles (London: Batsford) Peers, Sir Charles, 1986, Helmsley Castle, North Yorkshire (London: English Heritage) Pevsner, N., 1966, Buildings of England: Yorkshire: North Riding (London), 188-9 Simpson, W., 1965, in A Small (ed), Proceedings of the Fourth Viking Conference (Aberdeen University Studies 149), 166-75 McDonnell, J., and others, 1963, History of Helmsley, Rievaulx and District (York), 35-58 Illingworth, J. L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield), 45-51 Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH Yorkshire: North Riding Vol. 1, 487-93 Armitage and Montgomerie, 1912, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Yorkshire Vol. 2, 50-1 Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co) Mackenzie, J. D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 224-6 George Frank, 1888, Ryedale and North Yorkshire antiquities Clark, G.T., 1884, Mediaeval Military Architecture in England (Wyman and Sons) Vol. 2, 100-8 Whellan, T., 1859, History and topography of the city of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire Vol. 2, 243-4 Grose, Francis, 1787, Antiquities of England and Wales (London) Vol. 8, 149-51 Periodical Articles Guy, Neil, 2015-16, The Portcullis - design and development Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 29, 132-201 Coad, J., 2010, A ruinous affair Heritage Today Vol. 91 p. 30-32 Coppack, G., 1997, Helmsley Castle The Archaeological Journal Vol. 154 Wilson, P. R., 1989, Excavations at Helmsley Castle Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 6, 29 33 Thompson, M. W., 1986, Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list The Archaeological Journal Vol. 143, 315 Youngs, S. M., Clark, J. and Barry, T., 1986, Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1985 Medieval Archaeology Vol. 30 p. 173 1986, The Yorkshire Archaeological Register: 1985 Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 58 203 Brown, R. Allen, 1959, A List of Castles, 1154 1216 The English Historical Review Vol. 74 p. 249-280 (Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press), 90-121) I'Anson, W. M., 1916-17, Helmsley Castle Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 24 325-68 I'Anson, W. M., 1913, The castles of the North Riding Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 22 352-56 (plan) Clark, G. T., 1881, Earthworks of the Post-Roman and English Period The Archaeological Journal Vol. 38, 21-41 esp. 28 Clark, G.T., 1881, The castles of England and Wales at the Latter part of the Twelfth Century The Archaeological Journal Vol. 38, 258-76, 336-51 Clark, G.T., 1874, The Builder Vol. 32, 67-9 (reprinted MMA article) Clark, G. T., 1867, Mediaeval military architecture in England The Archaeological Journal Vol. 24, 92-109, 319-39 esp. 336. THE CASTLE STUDIES GROUP 89