Middleham Castle

Description of Middleham Castle

Middleham Castle is a medieval fortress situated in North Yorkshire in United Kingdom. Construction of Middleham Castle began in 1190 by the orders of Robert Fitzrandolph 3rd Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne. t was built near the site of an old castle motte. In 1270, the castle passes into the hands of the Neville family, whose most important figure is Richard Neville, the "king maker", a prominent figure in the War of the Two Roses.

After the death of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York in Wakefield, in December 1460, his younger sons, George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, duke of Gloucester, took possession of the castle and both came to live with his family. George had married Isabella Neville, daughter of the Count of Warwick.

The brother of George and Richard, King Edward IV of England, was imprisoned in Middleham for a short period, after being captured by Warwick in 1469. After Warwick's death at Barnet in 1471 and after Edward's return to the throne, Richard married Anna Neville, Warwick's younger daughter, and made Middleham his main residence. Their only son Edward was born and died within the castle walls.

Richard ascended the throne as King Richard III, but in his two years of reign he spent little time in Middleham. After the death of Richard at Bosworth in 1485 the castle remained the property of the crown until the reign of James I of England, when it was sold.

It fell into disuse and ruins during the eighteenth century. He was then garrisoned during the civil war, but he saw no action. The ruins are today placed under the care of the English Heritage.

 Middleham visitors claim to have heard sounds of medieval music inside castle walls. Additionally sounds of the battle raging outside of citadel's walls is heard occasionally.

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