Clitheroe Castle - Clitheroe, Lancashire (Pvt)
Standing on a rocky outcrop of limestone about 35 metres above the valley floor of the River Ribble, the keep of Clitheroe Castle is a prominent landmark both in the town and in the surrounding area. It has several claims to fame: it is one of the oldest buildings in Lancashire; it may be the smallest keep in England; and it is the only remaining castle in Lancashire which had a royalist garrison during the Civil War.
Clitheroe Castle Keep
It is believed that the castle was built by Robert de Lacy around the year 1186 to house and protect the administrative centre of his vast estate, which was called the Honour of Clitheroe and stretched from Laidburn to Bury on the western side of the Pennine watershed. The keep stood within a protective wall whose line can be traced on the north and west. Within this enclosure, or bailey, which had a two storey entrance tower where the inner gateway stands on the drive today, there must have been other buildings, probably built of wood rather than stone.
Early in the 14th century the Honour of Clitheroe passed by inheritance from the de Lacys to the family of the Earl of Lancaster. After the second Earl's revolt and execution in 1322, it then became part of the royal estates until the Restoration. The castle's maintenance was neglected in Tudor times, and its defences deteriorated. On the outbreak of the Civil War the people of Clitheroe hoped to hold it for Parliament, but in 1644, however, it was captured by Royalist troops. It was garrisoned by the Royalists for just six weeks, it being surrendered following the defeat of Prince Rupert at Marston Moor. In 1649 the government ordered that the castle be put into "such condition that in might neither be a charge to the Commonwealth to keep it, nor a danger to have it kept against them".
Charles II gave the Honour of Clitheroe to the first Duke of Albernarle who, as General Nonck, had helped to regain the throne in 1660. From the second Duke of Albernarle the estate passed through a complicated series of marriages to the second Duke of Montagu, and then by inheritance to the Dukes of Buccleugh. The much smaller Honour of Clitheroe is now owned by Lord Clitheroe, who lives at Downham Hall.