View source for Middleham Castle

==History==

[[File:Middleham Castle Keep plan.jpg|right|thumb|Middleham Castle plan]]
Middleham Castle was built near the site of an earlier [[motte and bailey]] castle, called William's Hill,<ref>{{cite web |title=Parishes: Middleham {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp251-257 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk |access-date=22 August 2018}}</ref> the site of which can still be seen nearby, although there is no evidence of stonework or defensive structures to the former castle site. Historians believe that the defensive walls of the original castle were constructed from timber.{{sfn|Weaver|1993|p=26}} In 1270 the new Middleham Castle came into the hands of the [[House of Neville|Neville]] family,<ref name="YP">{{cite news |last1=Tuffrey |first1=Peter |title=Richard's Castle |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=21 August 2018 |location=Picture Post |page=10|issn=0963-1496}}</ref> the most notable member of which was [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick]], known to history as the "Kingmaker", a leading figure in the [[Wars of the Roses]].  Following the death of [[Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York|Richard, Duke of York]], at [[Battle of Wakefield|Wakefield]] in December 1460, his younger son, [[Richard III of England|Richard, Duke of Gloucester]], came into Warwick's care, and lived at Middleham with Warwick's family. His brother King [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] was imprisoned at Middleham for a short time, having been captured by Warwick in 1469. Following Warwick's death at [[Battle of Barnet|Barnet]] in 1471 and Edward's restoration to the throne, his brother Richard married [[Anne Neville]], Warwick's younger daughter, and made Middleham his main home. [[Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales|Their son Edward]] (known as Edward of Middleham), was also born at the castle around 1473 or 1476 and later also died there in 1484.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chrystal|first1=Paul|title=The Place Names of Yorkshire; Cities, Towns, Villages, Rivers and Dales, some Pubs too, in Praise of Yorkshire Ales|year=2017|publisher=Stenlake|location=Catrine|isbn=9781840337532|page=58|edition=1}}</ref>
[[File:Middleham Castle - Modern day Richard III monument.jpg|left|thumb|Modern statue of [[Richard III of England|Richard III]], who grew up at Middleham Castle, by Linda Thompson]]
Richard ascended to the throne as King [[Richard III of England|Richard III]], but spent little or no time at Middleham in his two-year reign. After Richard's death at [[Battle of Bosworth Field|Bosworth]] in 1485 the castle was seized by [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and remained in royal hands until the reign of [[James I of England|James I]], when it was sold.{{sfn|Weaver|1993|p=3}} During the reign of [[Queen Elizabeth I|Elizabeth I]], the castle was proposed for full demolition by [[George Hastings, 4th Earl of Huntingdon|Lord Huntingdon]] and eventual conversion into a Manor House. A letter was written by Huntingdon to the Lord Treasurer outlining the plan and its possible use by the Queen when on her royal duties.{{sfn|Speight|1897|pp=[https://archive.org/details/romanticrichmon00speigoog/page/n340 294]–295}} The castle fell into disuse and disrepair during the 17th century.<ref name="YP"/> In 1644, a parliamentary Committee sitting in Yorkshire ordered that it was "untenable and no garrison should be kept there". Later still, some of the castle's walls were blown away and the stones of the castle became a public quarry by which many of the buildings in Middleham were created.{{sfn|Speight|1897|p=[https://archive.org/details/romanticrichmon00speigoog/page/n342 296]}} It was garrisoned during the [[English Civil War|Civil War]] in 1654 and 1655, when it was host to thirty men and capable of housing prisoners. There is no record of action at the site nor was it put under siege.{{sfn|Weaver|1993|p=33}}

In 1604, the castle was passed to Sir Henry Linley and then sold to the Wood family in 1662 who held onto the property until 1889.<ref name="YP"/> The ruins are now in the care of [[English Heritage]] who took them on in 1984,<ref>{{cite web |title=Middleham Castle {{!}} English Heritage |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/middleham-castle/ |website=www.english-heritage.org.uk |access-date=22 August 2018}}</ref> and are now Grade I listed.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Middleham Castle|num=1318543|grade=I|accessdate=22 August 2018}}</ref>