Sunday, 3 May 2015

Scarborough Castle

May 1312 marks the beginning of the end of Piers Gaveston's life.   After returning from his third exile to be with his wife Margaret for the birth of his daughter Joan, for whatever reasons, Piers decided to stay.  Along with Edward II, he spent his time in the North of England, until finally preparing for a siege Scarborough Castle.

 I've never been to Scarborough Castle - but it's on my castles-to-visit list - right at the top!  The castle has a massive, stone keep, built by Henry II between 1159 - 1169.  His grandson Henry III built the barbican gate tower.  The castle was surrounded by cliffs and the sea on three sides, and on the fourth, was a massive double ditch which could only have been reached by a great bridge.  Scarborough Castle was indeed an impressive fortified castle.  Here are some photos of what is left of the castle today.

The impressive stone keep


The Gate House



Scarborough Castle seemed ideal to withstand a siege.  In my next post, I'll look at what went wrong.
at

4 comments:

  1. Katarzyna Ogrodnik-Fujcik4 May 2015 at 01:53

    Must have been impressive indeed. Even today, judging by the pics, its remnants stand as testimony to its former magnificence.

    I am looking forward to the next post :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anerje4 May 2015 at 05:32

    Hi Kasia - yes, even today it looks impressive - when you think how old it is. I just have to visit it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anerje4 May 2015 at 05:34

    Btw, I finished the new bio on William Marshal. I really enjoyed it and the Young Henry came out well - a very sympathetic portrayal of him. It was tough reading for John though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Katarzyna Ogrodnik-Fujcik4 May 2015 at 08:10

    Yes, this is what I have been told. The expert in the life of William Marshal I mentioned the other day, said that the portrayal of Henry was the only good thing about the book :-) I guess that I should read it one day :-)

    ReplyDelete