Barnard Castle - Barnard Castle, Northumberland (EH)
Barnard Castle commands a strategic site overlooking the River Tees near a pre-existing road and ford established by the Romans. It was built onto a spur of rock, with extensive earthworks to provide a highly defensible stronghold. The land was being disputed over before the Norman invasion, but in 1095, King William II crushed a rebellion led by the Earl of Northumberland and granted the land to his loyal follower from Picardy, Guy de Baliol. It was Guy's nephew, Bernard and his younger son, Bernard II, who substantially built the castle in around 1155, granted a market charter and set out the town around the castle, hence the name Barnard Castle.
The elder Bernard fought against King David I of Scotland in 1138, but the Baliol name became embroiled more directly in Scottish history when, in 1290, John de Baliol II became a contender for the Scottish Crown, through the lands inherited from his mother, Devorguilla of Galloway (Sweetheart Abbey in south west Scotland was founded by Devorguilla, who loved John de Baliol so much that she carried his heart around with her after his death.). A council of Scottish and English lords held under the auspices of Edward I, chose John as the Scottish King, and as such, he swore loyalty to Edward, only to reject his authority once on the throne. War followed, leading to the rise of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce in Scotland. For Barnard Castle, these events meant that it came into the hands of the English Crown, and thence, in 1307, to Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick.
The Beauchamp's main power base was in the Midlands and parts of Barnard Castle gradually deteriorated, while the defences of the Inner and Middle Wards were improved. Through the generations, the Crown several times had control over the castle, through the succession of minors, to the seizure by Bishop Nevill in 1440, repelled by the king. The Crown gained possession again through the marriage of Anne, niece of the last Beauchamp male heir to the then Duke of Gloucester, Richard III, and a stone carving of his symbol, the boar, can just be made out above the oriel window in the Great Hall. Anne's mother, also Anne, regained possession after Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. She leased her estates to Henry VII, but they were never returned, and so Barnard stayed a royal castle.
During the 'Rising of the North' in 1569, the castle came under siege and the walls in the Outer Ward were breached. Despite retreating to the Inner Ward, the surrender came due to the water supply being cut off, and also the desertion of many of the soldiers, apparently leaping over the walls. The castle's decline continued, with the removal of much stonework in the 1630's by the then owner, Sir Henry Vane to his main residence at nearby Raby Castle. By 1636 the land inside the castle walls was being used for growing grass for hay, giving a vivid picture of its decline in both appearance and status. It passed into the Ministry of Work's hands in 1952, and after subsequent conservation and excavation, is now run by English Heritage.
The site today is complex and extensive, even though the Outer Ward is privately owned and not open to the public. You now enter into the Town Ward by the north gate, and this area would have been used by the townspeople for protection and the day-to-day running of the castle. To the north-west is the Dovecot Tower, supplying fresh meat and eggs for the castle. There would also have been a fish-pond in this area. In the Middle Ward, would have been accommodation for some of the castle officials, and perhaps the stables. There was a gatehouse from the Town Ward to protect the inhabitants, and a further defensive ditch before the gatehouse to the Inner Ward would have been filled by a moat. There is still the remains of the sally-port below the gatehouse. Once inside, there were functional rooms within the various towers for those living within the castle proper, a large kitchen, buttery and pantry, and, most importantly, the large hall and solar for the lord's private residence. The Round Tower was built on top of an existing square keep, and this is where the bed chambers of the lord and lady were. To soften the stone walls, there would have been richly coloured hangings and fabric, painted walls and hanging shields.