Helmsley
Helmsley is the finest market town in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, a stone town of considerable charm surrounding a market square that provides the principal visitor centre for the southern section of the moors. The combination of the ruined medieval castle, the walled garden, the excellent independent shops and restaurants and the access it provides to the walking of the Cleveland Way and the Tabular Hills makes Helmsley the most complete and most welcoming base for exploring the western North Yorkshire Moors.
Helmsley Castle, managing by English Heritage, is a castle of considerable historical depth whose ruined towers and keep provide excellent views over the town and the surrounding countryside, and the unusual combination of the medieval fortification with the substantial domestic range that was added in the sixteenth century by the Manners family reflects the transition of this castle from a purely military function to a comfortable aristocratic residence. The earthwork defences that surround the castle are among the most complete and best-preserved of any English castle.
The Helmsley Walled Garden, restored from dereliction since 1994 by a charitable trust, provides one of the finest examples of a Victorian walled garden restoration in Yorkshire, its productive beds, glasshouses and ornamental sections creating an excellent horticultural visit complementary to the castle. The Ryedale Folk Museum at nearby Hutton-le-Hole and the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey seven miles to the northwest provide excellent complementary heritage destinations for a base at Helmsley.