Upsall Castle

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Upsall Castle is a fourteenth century ruin, park and manor house in Upsall, in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England.

The earliest extant building on the site is the ruin of a quadrangular castle, probably begun in 1327 by Geoffrey Scrope, which was reputedly demolished in the Civil War.^[1] This castle was replaced by a manor house, which was rebuilt in the 19th Century^{[citation needed]} and then rebuilt again following destruction by fire in 1918.^[2]

[edit] Legend

The Legend of Upsall Castle survives in many forms. Some can be found in historical documents, others have survived via word of mouth and one version has been converted into a children's story written by Eliza Gutch.

The most reliable version can be found in Arthur Mee's Yorkshire North Riding of 1941.

The story begins with a member of the Scrope family who found the original 14th Century Upsall Castle in ruins, and dreamt that if he stood on London Bridge he would find enough money to build it again. He made his way to London Bridge, he stood there for three days dressed as a beggar, until a Quaker approached him and said, "I see you are as poor as I am, but if only I could get to Yorkshire, I would soon be rich".

"What would you do?" Scrope asked. "I would find gold under an elder tree near Upsall Castle", replied the tinker.

The tale goes on to say that Scrope hurried back to Yorkshire and found the gold. He used his new found wealth to rebuild the castle in which his family continued to live for several centuries.

This Legend shows remarkable similarity to the novel The Alchemist published in 1988 in by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.

[edit] External link

Map sources for Upsall Castle

[edit] References

^ Davis, Philip (2007-01-20). Upsall Castle. Gatehouse: The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of England and Wales. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.
^ Upsall, North Yorkshire. Retrieved on 2007-02-02.