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Visit Conisbrough Castle and if you feel energetic you can climb to the top of the magnificent Keep with it's breath-taking views across the breadth of Yorkshire; you can see the Television Mast on Emley Moor in the west to the Docks at Goole in the east.
Conisbrough Castle was once the principal northern stronghold of the de Warenne Earls of Surrey, who held the lands of Conisbrough from 1069 until 1347. William the first Earl and son-in-law of William the Conquerer, built a timber motte and bailey castle on the site during the early 1070s.
By the time of the fifth Earl, Hamelin Plantagenet, the wooden castle was no longer adequate to demonstrate the wealth and power of one of medieval England's most influential families and in 1180 Hamelin ordered the construction of a stone Keep to a new design of his devising.
Following the demise of the de Warenne family the castle rapidly lost its importance, and by the end of the 1400s had been abandoned as a residence. The Castle fell into disrepair and ironically, this saved it from destruction during the English Civil War of the 1640s, as it was by that time militarily indefensible.
In 1994, following five centuries of neglect, two new floors and a roof were placed into the Castle Keep and today, it is considered to be one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in Europe.
Experience for yourself the atmosphere of such a well preserved Medieval Castle and imagine how it inspired Sir Walter Scott to write his classic novel, "Ivanhoe", the subject of many films and television dramas. |