Middleham Yorkshire Dales
Middleham in Wensleydale is a small market town in the Yorkshire Dales famous for its horse racing training tradition, the ruined Neville castle and the association with Richard III who spent much of his youth here as a ward of the Earl of Warwick. The combination of the castle history, the working racehorse training community visible on the moors each morning and the attractive market town character creates a destination of unusual variety in the lower Dales landscape.
Middleham Castle, managed by English Heritage, was the principal residence of the Neville family and the place where the future Richard III grew up as a ward of the Kingmaker earl. The castle is one of the largest in Yorkshire and the surviving great keep, the gatehouse and various residential buildings provide excellent evidence of accommodation available to one of the most powerful noble families in medieval England.
The racehorse training tradition at Middleham, established on the high gallops above the town since the early eighteenth century, makes the town one of the most important racing centres in northern England. The morning exercise of horses on the Middleham High Moor provides one of the most distinctive sights available in the Yorkshire Dales.