Richmond Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Perched on a cliff above the River Swale, Richmond Castle overlooks the town of Richmond, gateway to Swaledale in North Yorkshire. Its tall square keep can be seen from afar and still commands the market place that grew up at its foot. Founded from 1071 onwards by Alan the Red, a companion of William the Conqueror, it is one of the very first Norman castles in England to have been built in stone from the outset. Much of its 11th-century curtain wall survives, as does Scolland's Hall, counted among the oldest great halls in the country. In ruins by the 16th century, the site enjoyed a second military life in the Victorian era, then during the First World War was used to imprison conscientious objectors, whose graffiti still survives in the cell block. Taken into State guardianship in 1916, it is now managed by English Heritage, which presents, among other things, the story of these men.