Cawood Castle

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Cawood Castle was the palace for the Archbishop of York. The remains of the castle are located in Cawood, a village in North Yorkshire (grid reference SE573376).

[edit] History

The castles presence was first mentioned in 1181 before being converted in a quadrangular castle during 1374 and 1388. Numerous documents show that the palace regularly changed inhabitants and was often improved. Among these improvements was the gatehouse, which was constructed by Archbishop John Kemp. It was constructed with stone from Huddlestone which supplied stone for the York Minster.

In 15 January 1466, George Nevill held a feast at the castle in celebration of becoming Archbishop of York. The Earl of Warwick, the Archbishop's brother, aided in the preparation of the feast and is said to have wanted a feast larger than the King's coronation feast. Guests included the Duke of Gloucester, the King's brother. The feast lasted several days and became known as the "Great Feast of Cawood" due to the size of it. Records from the feast show that there were:

104 oxen
6 wild bulls
1,000 muttons
304 veals
304 porks
400 swans
2000 geese
1000 capons
104 peacocks
400 mallards and teals
204 cranes
204 kids
2000 chickens
4000 pigeons
4000 rabbits
25000 gallons of wine.

One year later in 1467, Henry Bowett became the Archbishop of York and he used this opportunity to construct the great hall and banqueting hall.

In 1530, Cardinal Wolsey visited Cawood as the Archbishop of York. He was disrespected by the village however, he used his visit to become trusted and liked by the villagers, in which he succeeded. Before he was enthroned as Archbishop of York, he was arrested by the Earl of Northumberland, and whilst on the journey to London, he became ill before dying in Leicester.

In 1642, the English Civil War begun and the village and castle were identified as a Royalist stronghold. The castle was captured by the Parliamentarians from the Royalists, however the Earl of Newcastle briefly recaptured it for the Royalists in 1644. Shortly after, however, Lord Fairfax recaptured it and it was used as a prisoner of war camp. Once the war ended, the castle was abandoned and destroyed with only the farm buildings and parts of the wall remaining. The cellar was filled in with rubble and soil.

In 1932, the gatehouse was converted into a courthouse for the local people before being used as an officers' mess and a building for the British Home Guard during World War II.

[edit] Current status

The only remaining parts of the castle are the gatehouse and the banqueting hall. The rest of the castle was destroyed after the Civil War. Stones from the destroyed castle were used in the construction of surrounding houses. The foundations of some other structures do remain as well as the castles cellar which was excavated in the 19th century.

The castle is now in the ownership of the Landmark Trust who restored it however the banqueting hall remains with no lighting.