Crayke Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Perched on top of a natural spur overlooking the Vale of York, Crayke Castle occupies the highest point of the parish of the same name, in North Yorkshire. The site has a long ecclesiastical history: it overlies part of a pre-Conquest monastic cemetery linked to the community founded by St Cuthbert, and Crayke already appeared in the Domesday Book among the possessions of the episcopal see of Durham. The Bishops of Durham first built a Norman timber motte-and-bailey fortification here, which was gradually replaced by stone buildings. The present complex combines an imposing four-storey rectangular tower house, still inhabited, a mid-15th-century kitchen wing built over a vaulted undercroft, and the ruined remains of a second tower known as the "New Tower". Bailey earthworks, traces of a gatehouse and a medieval pottery kiln have been uncovered during successive excavations. The castle received several sovereigns in the Middle Ages, from King John to Edward III. Rendered unusable as a stronghold after the Civil War, it became a farm in the 18th century before being sold to private owners. Listed Grade I and protected as a scheduled monument, it remains a private residence.