Helmsley Castle, North Yorkshire, England UK
A castle, constructed in wood around 1120, was built by Walter l'Espec. Walter was childless and on his death in 1154 the castle passed to his sister Adelina who had married Peter de Roos. In 1186 Robert de Ros, son of Everard de Ros,[1] 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. He raised the east tower and built the new hall and kitchen, as well as strengthening the castle. 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. William died in 1316. Helmsley Castle remained in the possession of the de Roos family until 1478 when Edmund de Roos sold it to Richard, Duke of Gloucester who later became Richard III. Richard did nothing to the castle, staying instead at Middleham Castle. After Richard III's death at the Battle of Bosworth, Helmsley Castle was restored to Edmund de Roos by Henry VII. Edmund died childless in 1508 and the castle passed to his cousin Sir George Manners of Etal on whose death in 1513 his son Thomas inherited it. He was created Earl of Rutland in 1525. On his death in 1543, Thomas was succeeded by his son, Henry, but it was under the rule of his grandson Edward, that the castle was altered next. He had the old hall converted into a Tudor mansion, converted the 13th-century chapel into a kitchen linked to the old hall by a covered gallery, and knocked the new hall down.
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Photo credit: © John Morrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: castle, england, english, helmsley, heritage, north, uk, yorkshire
