Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire England
Pontefract Castle is a castle ruin in the town of Pontefract, in West Yorkshire, England.
It has a rich history, peppered with sieges, royalty and murder.
The ‘castle, on a rock’ was constructed in approximately 1070 by Ilbert de Lacy, on land which had been granted to him by William the Conqueror.
It was the site of a series of famous sieges during the 17th-century English Civil War.
Little survives of what must have been one of the most impressive castles in Yorkshire.
All that’s left, is parts of the curtain wall and excavated and tidied inner walls.
Parts of the 12th-century wall and the Piper Tower’s postern gate, and the foundations of a chapel are the oldest remains.
The ruins of the Round Tower are on the 11th-century mound.
It is still possible to visit the castle’s 11th-century cellars, which were used to store military equipment during the civil war.
Because of the deaths known to have occurred within the castle walls, over the years the town earned the nickname of ‘Bloody Pomfret.’ – Pomfret being another way of spelling Pontefract!
Richard III had two relatives of Elizabeth Woodville b-headed at Pontefract Castle on 25th June 1483 – her son, Sir Richard Grey, and her brother, Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers.
King Henry VIII of England stayed at the castle arriving on 23rd August 1541 during his summer royal progress of the North.
It was alleged during his visit that Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, committed her first act of adultery with Sir Thomas Culpeper at Pontefract Castle.
She was later b-headed at the Tower of London.
Mary, Queen of Scots lodged at the castle on 28th January 1569, travelling between Wetherby and Rotherham.
The castles most famous moment in history, involves the death of Richard II.
King Richard II was one of the most notorious monarchs to sit on the English throne.
Richard was deposed by his first cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, and held in captivity at Pontefract Castle in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England.
Little by little, day by day, Richard starved to death, in his cell, until the former king died, on the 14th February.
On February 17th, Henry displayed Richard’s cold, emaciated corpse in St. Paul’s Cathedral for all to see.
Henry then hastily buried Richard, without fanfare, in King’s Langley Priory.
The ghost of Richard II, strangely, has never been seen at Pontefract castle, the place where he met his tragic end…. but that’s not to say that there aren’t any ghosts there…..
A Black Monk has often been seen walking from the remains of the kitchen towards the ruins of what used to be the Queen’s Tower, in the late afternoon.
Another monk dressed in grey has also been sighted.
A ghostly woman also in grey, is sometimes seen holding a lantern near the castle gates.
A young girl, probably between nine and 13-years-old, with long brown hair and ragged clothes, has been seen reflected in the mirror at the visitor’s centre on more than one occasion but when the spectator looks round there isn’t anybody there…
Next to the visitors centre is the ladies toilet, in which has been heard the sounds of a girl crying, and at other times she is screaming!
Cavaliers have been seen coming up from the under the ground.
On top of the keep, a spectre of a man dressed in black has been seen reading a parchment.
The ruins of Pontefract Castle’s keep.
Picture Credit – Tim Green from Bradford.
About The Author
