Historic Places in York and North Yorkshire

Bolton Castle is located in the village of Castle Bolton in Wensleydale inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The castle is built as a quadrangle with accommodation along each side and a tower at each corner. The single entrance to the courtyard is through a vaulted passage with a portcullis at each end. The exterior of the castle is in good condition. The interior is mostly an empty shell apart from the west range and south-west tower which are still complete. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument The Castle is open to visitors from the beginning of March until the end of October and is available for private hire throughout the year. The castle also caters for weddings, receptions and private events. The castle was built between 1378 and 1399 by Richard le Scrope, Lord Chancellor. The castle is still owned by the descendants of the Scrope family. In 1569 Mary Queen of Scots was held prisoner for a year before being transferred to Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. During the Civil War the Scrope family sided with the Royalists. In 1645, Bolton Castle was held under siege by the Parliamentary for six months before surrendering. The castle was partially destroyed, leaving only the west range and south-west tower undamaged. The Arts Bolton Castle was used as the location for a number of television and movie productions including Ivanhoe, Elizabeth, Heartbeat, and All Creatures Great and Small.

The Druids Temple is a remarkable folly nestled in the woodland near Ilton in North Yorkshire, a curious Victorian creation that stands as one of England's most intriguing architectural oddities. Built around 1820 by William Danby, a local landowner of Swinton Park, this mock-ancient monument was deliberately constructed to resemble a druidic stone circle, complete with massive stone pillars, a central altar stone, and even a cave-like structure. What makes this place particularly notable is that it was built not for religious purposes or even as a genuine antiquarian reconstruction, but as a form of elaborate relief work during a period of economic hardship. Danby employed local men who were suffering from unemployment and poverty following the Napoleonic Wars, paying them to construct this elaborate fantasy in the moorland woods, creating something that would puzzle and delight visitors for centuries to come. The temple's origins carry a fascinating social dimension that elevates it beyond mere architectural curiosity. According to local tradition, Danby offered a hermit free accommodation in the temple for seven years, along with a wage, on the condition that he never cut his hair or nails and never ventured more than a short distance from the site. The hermit reportedly lasted only four and a half years before abandoning his post, finding the isolation and conditions too demanding. Whether entirely factual or embellished over time, this story speaks to the Romantic era's fascination with the picturesque, the gothic, and the deliberately theatrical creation of atmospheric ruins and mysterious places in the landscape. The temple represents the Georgian and early Victorian passion for creating follies that would serve as conversation pieces and destinations for leisurely walks through estate grounds. Standing among the stones today, visitors encounter an atmospheric arrangement of weathered gritstone blocks that genuinely evoke ancient mystery, despite their relatively recent construction. The main structure consists of a horseshoe arrangement of standing stones surrounding a large flat altar stone, with additional features including a small cave structure and various other megalithic-style elements scattered through the site. The stones themselves are substantial, some standing several meters high, and they have weathered beautifully over two centuries, acquiring the patina of age with moss, lichen, and the gradual erosion that makes them appear far older than they actually are. On misty mornings or in the soft light of evening, the temple genuinely achieves the mysterious, primeval atmosphere its creator intended, and it's easy to see why many visitors initially assume they're looking at genuine prehistoric remains. The physical experience of visiting the Druids Temple is one of pleasant discovery and woodland exploration. The site sits within mixed woodland, with the stones emerging from a clearing surrounded by trees that provide dappled shade in summer and a skeletal framework against grey skies in winter. The forest floor around the temple is often carpeted with fallen leaves, ferns, and woodland plants, while birdsong and the rustling of wind through branches provide the predominant soundscape. There's a palpable sense of quietude and removal from the modern world, which is precisely what makes the place so effective. The combination of substantial stone structures and their woodland setting creates an almost theatrical staging that rewards those who make the journey to find it. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially North Yorkshire moorland and forest, with the temple located within Leighton Reservoir plantation near the village of Ilton, itself positioned between Masham and Ripon. This is classic Yorkshire Dales fringe territory, where pastoral farmland begins to give way to higher moorland, and where substantial estates and grand country houses have shaped the landscape over centuries. Swinton Park, the estate from which the temple originated, remains nearby and now operates as a luxury hotel. The broader area offers abundant walking opportunities, with the temple often incorporated into longer moorland rambles. The nearby market town of Masham, famous for its breweries, lies just a few miles to the east, while the cathedral city of Ripon is accessible to the southeast. Reaching the Druids Temple requires a bit of determination, which is part of its charm. The site is located off minor roads between Ilton and Leighton Reservoir, and visitors typically park at a small parking area before following footpaths through the forest for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes. The walk itself is generally straightforward, though it can be muddy in wet weather, so appropriate footwear is advisable. The paths are not always clearly marked, and the temple's deliberately secluded location means that careful attention to directions or a good map is helpful. There is no admission fee, no visitor center, and no facilities, which preserves the sense of discovering something secret and special but also means visitors should come prepared with suitable clothing and any provisions they might need. The temple rewards visits in all seasons, though each offers a different character. Spring brings bluebells and fresh green growth that softens the stone structures, while summer provides full leafy enclosure and the best weather for lingering among the stones. Autumn delivers spectacular colour and that particularly British woodland atmosphere of golden light filtering through turning leaves, while winter strips everything back to essentials, making the stones stand stark against bare branches and sometimes frosted or snow-dusted ground. Early morning or late afternoon visits often provide the most atmospheric light and the greatest chance of having the place to yourself, as it can attract steady visitor numbers during peak times despite its relative remoteness. One particularly intriguing aspect of the Druids Temple is how successfully it has fooled people over the years. Numerous visitors have arrived convinced they were seeing genuine prehistoric remains, and the temple has occasionally appeared in listings or discussions of ancient sites without clarification of its true origins. This speaks to both the quality of its construction and the enduring human fascination with ancient monuments and mysterious stone circles. The temple has also become a minor location for those interested in folklore, neo-pagan gatherings, and alternative spirituality, with some visitors treating it as a site for meditation or small ceremonies, thus ironically giving this fake druidic site a genuine contemporary ritual function its builders never anticipated.

Helmsley Castle is situated in the market town of Helmsley on the outskirts of the North Yorkshire Moors. The medieval ruins of Helmsley Castle are surrounded by banks and huge double ditch cut from solid rock. The site is surrounded by a low curtain wall with circular towers, a tall D shaped tower on the eastern side of the inner bailey; thought to have been a keep, and two barbican entrances. Facilities The castle is open daily between March and October from 10am and Thursday to Sunday from November to February. Visitors to the castle can take an audio tour from the visitors centre or visit the mansion range which has a hands on exhibition. On display are also a wide range of exhibits and finds from the Civil War from tableware to canon balls, and an exhibition showing the different aspects of life within the castle from domestic, social and military positions. The first castle on the site was around 1120 and was constructed of wood and in 1186 Robert de Roos, a relative of the original owner started work on converting the castle into a stone building. The castle remained in the de Roos family until 1478 and between them the family members were responsible for building the castle's, towers, gateways, chapel and defenses. They were also responsible for building a dividing wall between the north and the south of the site. In the southern part they built a new hall and the east tower in an area used as exclusively for the family; now granted the title 'Lords of Helmsley', and the northern half with the old hall was used by the castle's stewards and officials. In 1478 the castle was sold to Richard, Duke of Gloucester; later Richard III, although he preferred to stay at Middleham Castle. After his death the castle was given back to the de Roos family and it was under Edward de Roos that the old hall on the north side was converted into a Tudor mansion and the chapel into a kitchen, linking the two by a covered walkway. He demolished the new hall and converted the south barbican to comfortable living quarters. The castle suffered damage during the Civil War and was slighted with much of the eastern tower, its walls and gates being destroyed. The castle then passed through more hands including those of the Lord Mayor of London, Charles Duncombe in 1678, and after being handed down again though his family was left uninhabited to decay. The castle is now under the care of English Heritage.

Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales is a ruined Augustinian priory of exceptional beauty set in a wooded valley of the River Wharfe, one of the most beautiful and most visited heritage landscapes in the north of England. The priory was established in 1154 and developed over the following centuries into a substantial monastic complex before its suppression by Henry VIII in 1539. The nave of the priory church survived the Dissolution and remains in use as the parish church of the local community, while the remaining conventual buildings are preserved as ruins within the parkland of the Devonshire estate. The setting of Bolton Abbey is the principal reason for its status as one of the great visitor attractions of the Dales. The River Wharfe curves through a wide wooded valley below the priory buildings, and the combination of the romantic ruined arches of the east end of the priory church, the sound of the river, the mature woodland of oak and beech on the valley sides and the open moorland visible above creates a landscape of which successive generations of British visitors, from the early Romantic tourists of the eighteenth century to the present day, have never tired. Turner, Landseer and Ruskin all painted or sketched at Bolton Abbey, and the combination of natural beauty and historical association that drew them continues to draw half a million visitors annually. The Strid, a dramatic natural feature a short walk upstream from the priory, is where the full volume of the Wharfe is compressed through a narrow gorge of water-smoothed limestone, the dark water churning through the rock channel with a force that is immediately and viscerally dangerous despite the apparent narrowness of the crossing. The Strid has claimed many lives over the centuries and its reputation for lethal deceptiveness is thoroughly deserved: the channel is far deeper than it appears and the walls beneath the surface are deeply undercut. The Bolton Abbey estate, owned by the Devonshire family since 1753, includes extensive walking trails, the Cavendish Pavilion restaurant and café, and the atmospheric single-carriage Embsay and Bolton Abbey steam railway.

Middleham Castle is situated 2 miles south of Leyburn, near the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in Wensleydale. Although the castle is in ruins most of the large walls are still intact and consists of a two storey Norman keep with turrets at each corner and the midway points and the remains of residential buildings surrounded by a curtain wall. The entrance to the keep is via a staircase to the first floor. There is a further spiral staircase up to the top of the south west tower which has views over the town and countryside beyond. Only the foundations of the original eastern gatehouse and curtain wall are still visible, but the rest of the wall is still intact. Despite some restoration the lower parts of the keep, windows, doorways and battlements are badly damaged and eroded. Facilities The castle is open to the public daily between March and September 10am to 6pm and between October and March until 4pm Saturday to Wednesday. There is an exhibition about the castle's important occupants and includes a copy of the 'Middleham Jewel'; a large 15th century sapphire pendent, as well as family friendly activities and a shop selling souvenirs and snacks. The castle was constructed on the site of an earlier motte and bailey castle in the late 1100's by Robert Fitzrandolph, and consisted on a three storey keep with chapel, living quarters and bailey. During the 13th century a 250 foot curtain wall was built around the castle and during the 14th and 15th centuries, stables, stores and a garrison were also built within the castle walls. It was also during the 15th century that some of the most powerful Lords in England, including Warwick, Salisbury, the Duke of Gloucester and King Richard III all lived at Middleham Castle; with it being the most favorite of all the Kings castles. 'The Princes Tower', a round tower at the south west of the curtain wall is where Price Edward was said to have been born and where he died. The castle came into the hands of Henry VII after King Richard's death in 1485 was abandoned and fell into ruins. In 1604 the castle was granted to Sir Henry Linley who renovated and lived until his death in 1610. During the Civil War the castle was used as a prison, but in 1646 the parliamentarians ordered the wall of the east range and other parts of the castle to be destroyed and again it was left abandoned. The castle changed hands for the last time in 1925 when English Heritage acquired it from Lord Masham.

Barden Tower is located in Barden, about 3 miles from Bolton Abbey, in North Yorkshire, England. The building is rectangular with an L-shaped addition to the south-east corner. The main house is three storeys tall. The tower used to have a courtyard surrounded by a curtain wall with two gateways. One of these gateway arches survives, and the other is in ruins. The tower was originally built in the late 15th century by Henry Clifford. The building fell into disrepair and was restored in 1658 by Lady Anne Clifford. After her death it was taken over by the Earls of Cork, and fell into decline in the late 18th century.

Clifford's Tower (also known as York Castle) is located in the city of York, England. The remains of a 13th century keep known as Clifford's Tower, and parts of the curtain wall stand on the site. The keep was two stories high with a central stone pillar that supported the first floor. Some traces of the pillar can still be seen. There is a square turret on the south side between two of the lobes that was used to protect the entrance. There are defensive turrets between the other lobes. The walls of the keep still stand, but the roof and internal floor has gone. The keep has an unusual quatrefoil plan (a four-leafed clover shape). The first castle on the site was a wooden motte and bailey castle built in 1068, during the Norman Conquest. The castle be rebuilt in stone in the mid 13th century (between 1245 - 1270) on orders from King Henry III in response to threat from Scottish invasion. A curtain wall with towers and two gateways was built round the bailey, and a stone keep was built on the motte, then known as the King's Tower. The castle was used as the Treasury for King Edward I in 1298 during his campaign against the Scots. King Edward II also used the castle as a Treasury in his campaign against rebel barons in 1322. After the Battle of Boroughbridge some of the defeated barons were executed at York Castle. By 1358, the stone keep had subsided, causing a large crack to appear in the south east "lobe" of the tower. The keep was in poor condition by the end of the 15th century. During the English Civil War the Royalists under Henry Clifford, the last Earl of Cumberland, occupied the castle in 1642. Clifford repaired the castle and strengthened the walls. In 1644 anti-Royalist forces including a Scottish army and a Parliamentary force besieged York. Prince Rupert came to negotiate a lifting of the siege, but he was defeated by Parliamentary forces at Marston Moor, six miles west of York. The castle was surrendered to the Parliamentary forces who then slighted the castle. During the reign of Charles II, later in the 17th century, the Castle was partially restored. Henry Clifford, the last Earl of Cumberland, was the last to garrison the castle. It is not clear if the keep became known as Clifford's Tower after Henry Clifford, or after Roger de Clifford, one of the rebels who was hanged there in 1322. The interior of the castle was destroyed in 1684 when an explosion ripped through the artillery store reduced the tower to a shell. The explosion may not have been accidental. In the 18th century, three new buildings were built south west of Clifford's Tower - the County Gaol, the Assize Courts and the Female Prison. The Assize Courts building is now the York Crown Court. The Female Prison and the County Gaol are now the Castle Museum. In 1825, Clifford's Tower, further new buildings were added and whole castle complex turned into a prison with walls, a gatehouse and extra prison block. The prison was in use from 1835 to 1929, after which the 19th century buildings were demolished. Restoration of the castle began in 1903, and in 1925 was taken over by the Commissioners of His Majesty's Works which later became English Heritage. The Arts Clifford's Tower was used as a backdrop in the video for the N-Trance dance hit Set You Free.

Skipton Castle is situated in the town centre of Skipton, 18 miles north west of Bradford in the north of England. Skipton Castle is a well preserved medieval castle surrounded by an outer curtain wall. The entrance to the site is through a gatehouse flanked by two stout drum towers, the east tower containing a 17th century shell grotto. The main building, built over two storey's, consists of six drum towers, domestic buildings on the northern side, the ruins of a chapel and a Tudor style courtyard. Facilities The castle is open daily from 10am until 6pm; from midday on Sundays, March until September and until 4pm October to February. Included in the admission cost is a tour sheet giving pictures and information on the castle's most interesting features. The shop specializes in historical books relating to the castle as well as cards, prints, gifts and light refreshments. The Clifford Tea rooms offer specialty tea and coffee and homemade items, and for those who prefer to picnic in the grounds the secluded picnic area has views over the town. The first motte and bailey castle on the site was built by Robert de Romille in 1090 but it was soon replaced with a stronger stone keep to help protect against the attacks of the Scots. Edward II granted Skipton Castle to Lord Clifford who set about making many improvements including adding four huge drum towers in the inner bailey and creating a curtain wall with gatehouse and bastions. During the Civil War in December 1645, the castle was finally surrendered following a three year siege, after which Oliver Cromwell ordered the castle's roofs be removed. The castle remained the Clifford family until the death of Lady Anne Clifford. She was responsible for ordering the repairs after the siege and also planting the yew tree which still stands in the central courtyard today.

Byland Abbey in the North York Moors National Park is one of the most important and least visited of the great Cistercian abbey ruins of the north of England, the remains of a wealthy medieval monastery whose once-magnificent church represented the largest Cistercian church in England at the time of its completion in the late twelfth century. The abbey was founded in 1177 and rapidly became one of the great houses of the Cistercian order in the north, its church and domestic buildings constructed on an ambitious scale that reflected both the order's wealth and the patronage of the powerful local lords who supported it. The ruins of the abbey church retain enough of their fabric to convey a strong impression of the building's original grandeur. The west front, with its great rose window aperture above the main doorway, is the most impressive surviving element, a composition of early Gothic lancets and round-arched decorative elements that represents the transition from Romanesque to Gothic in late twelfth-century English church architecture. The floor of the church, paved in geometric encaustic tiles of exceptional quality, survives in significant areas and represents one of the finest examples of medieval floor tile work in any English monastic ruin. Byland was the site of a significant and humiliating defeat in 1322 when a Scottish raiding force under Robert the Bruce routed the English army of Edward II who was using the abbey as a temporary residence. The Scots plundered the abbey following their victory, and the episode is both an important historical event and a reminder of how thoroughly the north of England was exposed to Scottish raiding throughout the early fourteenth century. The village of Byland below the abbey provides a picturesque English rural context for the ruins, and the North York Moors landscape surrounding the valley offers excellent walking and further monastic ruins at Rievaulx and Ampleforth within easy reach.

Scarborough Castle occupies one of the most dramatic castle sites in England, a rocky headland jutting into the North Sea between the town's two bays with sheer drops on three sides that made it the most naturally defended position on this stretch of the Yorkshire coast. The views from the headland sweep across the North Bay to the north, the South Bay with its famous beach to the south, and the open sea to the east, creating a panorama that makes clear why humans have fortified this headland since the Bronze Age. The medieval castle was established by William le Gros, Count of Aumale, around 1136 and subsequently taken over by the crown when Henry II purchased it in 1155. Henry invested heavily in the site, constructing the great keep that still stands to a height of over 30 metres despite losing its upper stories and one corner wall in a dramatic collapse during the seventeenth century. The keep was one of the largest and most expensive built by Henry II in the north of England and, together with his works at Newcastle, Richmond and elsewhere, demonstrates the strategic importance he attached to controlling Yorkshire. The castle played a role in some of the most turbulent episodes in English medieval history. Piers Gaveston, the controversial favourite of Edward II, used the castle as a refuge in 1312 and was besieged here by nobles who were determined to end his influence over the king. After negotiating what proved to be an illusory safe conduct, Gaveston was captured and executed, an episode that contributed directly to the political crisis culminating in Edward's own deposition and murder. During the Civil War the castle endured two long sieges before eventually surrendering to Parliamentary forces in 1645. The German naval bombardment of Scarborough in December 1914, which killed 18 civilians and damaged buildings across the town, provided one of the most effective British recruiting posters of the First World War under the slogan Remember Scarborough. The castle itself was damaged by German naval shells during this attack. English Heritage manages the castle and the site includes an excellent visitor centre, exhibits about the castle's long history and access to the headland promontory with its extraordinary coastal views.

Richmond Castle rises above the spectacular gorge of the River Swale in North Yorkshire with a commanding presence that has dominated this hillside town for nearly a thousand years. Built by Alan Rufus, the first Earl of Richmond, shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066, it is one of the earliest stone castles in England and one of the best preserved examples of early Norman military architecture anywhere in the country. The combination of historic castle, medieval market place and dramatic Swale gorge scenery makes Richmond one of the most attractive and satisfying small towns in northern England. The castle was begun in the 1080s and the great square keep that towers above the town was added in the twelfth century. At 30 metres high it remains the most imposing feature of the ruins and provides sweeping views from its roof across the town and the surrounding Swaledale countryside. The keep's construction in large, well-cut stone blocks demonstrates the resources and ambition of its builders at a time when most English construction still relied heavily on timber. Scotland's Hall, within the castle's great court, is believed to be the earliest surviving secular hall in England, a remarkable survival that gives an unparalleled sense of the domestic and ceremonial spaces within an early Norman fortress. The hall's large windows, rare in military architecture of this period, suggest that the castle was conceived from the beginning as a centre of display and hospitality as well as a defensive stronghold. During the First World War the castle served as a military detention centre, and the story of the sixteen conscientious objectors imprisoned here for refusing to fight has become an important part of the castle's more recent history. Some of these men, members of the No-Conscription Fellowship and the Society of Friends, were later court-martialled and sentenced to death, sentences that were commuted to imprisonment just before they were to be carried out. Their names are inscribed on the walls of the guardroom cell and a small exhibition within the castle tells their story. The town of Richmond itself is one of the gems of the Yorkshire Dales. The cobbled Market Place is among the finest in England, surrounded by Georgian buildings and dominated by Holy Trinity Church with its extraordinary collection of shops built into its ground floor walls.

Castle Howard in North Yorkshire is one of the grandest and most imposing country houses in Britain, an enormous baroque palace designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor for the third Earl of Carlisle in the early eighteenth century that dominates its parkland setting with a confidence and authority matched by very few English country houses. The house was begun in 1699 and the main building completed by 1712, with additional wings added later in the century, and the combination of the great domed central hall, the baroque facade and the carefully composed landscape of lakes, temples and architectural features in the park creates one of the most complete examples of baroque country house design in England. Vanbrugh, who had no architectural training before receiving this commission and had previously worked as a playwright and soldier, brought to the project a theatrical imagination and instinct for dramatic effect that resulted in a building quite unlike any other in England. The central cupola rising above the main hall, the long colonnaded wings flanking the entrance courtyard and the confident orchestration of mass and void across the south front create an impression of palatial grandeur that overwhelmed contemporary observers and has continued to inspire admiration across three centuries. The house became internationally famous as the setting for Granada Television's 1981 adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh's novel of aristocratic Catholic life in England, and the association with this television production has brought many visitors who wish to see the location of a story that made a powerful impression on an entire generation of viewers. The house's appearance in numerous other productions since has consolidated its status as a filming location as well as a historical attraction. The grounds of Castle Howard contain a remarkable series of garden buildings including Vanbrugh's Temple of the Four Winds, the Mausoleum designed by Hawksmoor and the Ray Wood woodland garden that contains one of the finest collections of species rhododendrons and ornamental trees in the north of England.

Spofforth Castle near Spofforth in North Yorkshire is a ruined medieval castle associated with the Percy family, one of the most powerful noble dynasties of northern England throughout the medieval and early modern periods. The castle dates from the thirteenth century and was a significant Percy family seat before Alnwick Castle in Northumberland became their principal residence. The remains include the hall block standing to considerable height and various ancillary buildings, managed by English Heritage and freely accessible in the attractive village of Spofforth. The Percy family's central role in the history of medieval northern England, including their involvement in the Wars of the Roses and the northern rebellions against Tudor rule, gives Spofforth a historical significance beyond its modest surviving remains. The surrounding Harrogate district provides attractive walking country.

The city walls of York are the most complete surviving medieval city walls in England, a nearly continuous circuit of approximately three kilometres that encloses the historic centre of the city and can be walked almost in its entirety on the raised wall walk. The walls incorporate elements spanning nearly two thousand years, from the Roman fortress walls of Eboracum through the Viking and Norman periods to the major reconstruction of the medieval circuit in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that created the walls visible today. Walking the complete circuit provides an unparalleled perspective on the Roman origins of York, the medieval development of the city and the architecture of every subsequent period visible within and beyond the wall. York was established as Eboracum, the legionary fortress of the Ninth and then Sixth Legions, in 71 AD, and the Roman walls formed the perimeter of a fortress covering approximately fifty acres on the north bank of the Ouse. The characteristic playing card shape of the Roman fortress is still discernible in the street pattern of the city centre, and large sections of the original Roman wall masonry are preserved in the lower courses of the medieval circuit, most visibly at the Multangular Tower in the Museum Gardens where the Roman polygonal angle tower stands to considerable height. The four principal gateways, known as bars, provide the most impressive architectural features of the wall circuit. Micklegate Bar, the most important gate as the principal entry from the south, bears the arms of the city on its outer face and was traditionally where the heads of executed traitors were displayed, including Richard Duke of York's head in 1461. Bootham Bar, Monk Bar and Walmgate Bar each have their own character and historical associations. The views from the wall walk over the city, the minster and the surrounding roofscape of York are unmatched by any other perspective on this exceptional historic city.

Knaresborough Castle is a ruined fourteenth-century royal castle perched dramatically above the gorge of the River Nidd in the historic spa and market town of Knaresborough in North Yorkshire. The castle was built by the English Crown in the early fourteenth century and played a role in several significant events of medieval English history including the imprisonment of Richard II before his murder and the administration of the extensive Duchy of Lancaster estates. The keep and parts of the curtain wall survive in good condition, and the castle now contains the Knaresborough Museum interpreting the town's rich history. The town of Knaresborough is one of the most attractive in Yorkshire, with its medieval market square, medieval viaduct over the Nidd gorge, Mother Shipton's Cave and the Royal Pump Room museum providing an excellent range of heritage attractions.