South Cowton Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Cowton Castle, often called South Cowton Castle, is a late medieval tower house. It stands at the end of a ridge near the small village of South Cowton, between Richmond and Northallerton, and overlooks the low-lying land to the north. The building takes the form of a battlemented rectangular block of about 18 by 8 metres, of three storeys, with two four-storey towers at the south-west and north-east corners. The building was constructed for Sir Richard Conyers, a member of a powerful northern English family who was rewarded by the Crown for his services during the Wars of the Roses. A turret on the north-east side still bears the Conyers arms together with an inscription. County historians suppose that the tower was originally surrounded by a walled courtyard, of which almost nothing remains. Long used as a farmhouse, the castle has lost some of its original internal arrangements but retains the appearance of a fortified manor house. It is listed Grade I. It is private property and not open to visitors. The neighbouring church of St Mary is also associated with the Conyers family.