Richmond Castle
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.