Editing Conisbrough Castle (section)

==History==

===11th – 12th centuries===
[[File:Aerial view of Conisbrough Castle - geograph.org.uk - 639358.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|Aerial photograph in 2007, showing the [[outer bailey|outer]] and [[inner bailey]]s (bottom left and top right)]]
Conisbrough Castle was founded by [[William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey|William de Warenne]], the first [[Earl of Surrey]], who had taken part in the [[Norman conquest of England]] in 1066 and was rewarded by his father-in-law, [[William the Conqueror]], with extensive estates in [[Yorkshire]], [[Norfolk]] and [[Sussex]].<ref name=Johnson1984P3>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=3}}.</ref> As part of these, Lord de Warenne was given the manor of [[Conisbrough]], which had previously been owned by the late Saxon king [[Harold Godwinson|Harold II]].<ref name=Johnson1984P3/> The manor took its name from the [[Old English]] name for the settlement, ''Cyningesburh'', meaning "the king's fortress", and formed a large estate comprising 28 townships, centred on a fortified [[burh]] at Conisbrough itself.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=3}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/conisbrough-castle/history/|title=History of Conisbrough Castle|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231850/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/conisbrough-castle/history/|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

William built his castle on a rocky [[Magnesian Limestone]] [[spur]] surrounded by steep banks, and the fortification included a [[motte]], an [[inner bailey]] protected by an earth bank and [[palisade]]s, an [[outer bailey]], and possibly a timber [[keep]].<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Clark|1884a|p=433}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The castle was located around {{convert|175|ft}} above the river and would have dominated this part of the [[Lower Don Valley|Don Valley]].<ref>{{harvnb|Clark|1884a|p=433}}; {{cite web|url=http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1010828|title=List Entry|publisher=English Heritage|mode=cs2|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113020101/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1010828|archive-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was positioned directly opposite the village, which probably contained the old Anglo-Saxon burh.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Clark|1884b|p=126}}.</ref>

The castle was held by William's son, also called [[William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey|William]], from 1088 to 1138, and then by his son, another [[William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey|William]], until his death in 1147.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=3, 5}}.</ref> Conisbrough and the earldom then passed through [[Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Surrey|Isabel]], William's daughter, to her first husband, [[William I, Count of Boulogne|William de Blois]], and then on to her second husband, [[Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey|Hamelin Plantagenet]], whom she married in 1163.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=5}}.</ref> Hamelin was the illegitimate half-brother of King [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], who had arranged the marriage, and the union brought him great wealth.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|p=54}}.</ref> Hamelin extensively rebuilt the castle around 1180 to 1190, including constructing the stone keep; given his ''[[parvenu]]'' status, he probably hoped to reinforce perceptions of his new elevated rank.<ref>{{harvnb|Liddiard|2005|p=54}}; {{harvnb|Johnson|1980|p=78}}.</ref> King [[John of England|John]] visited the castle in 1201.<ref name=Johnson1984P7>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=7}}.</ref>

===13th – 15th centuries===
[[File:Conisbrough Castle inner ward - geograph.org.uk - 920706.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|The inner bailey seen from the east, showing the former locations of the gatehouse and the solar block (left), and the castle's hall (right)]]
The castle continued in the ownership of Hamelin Plantagenet's family, passing to his son [[William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey|William de Warenne]] in 1202.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> William was probably responsible for the construction of new stone [[curtain wall (castle)|curtain walls]] around the inner bailey, destroying the former earthwork defences in the process.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1980|p=80}}.</ref> The inner bailey was levelled and William built a hall and service buildings inside the castle, again in stone.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1980|pp=77, 80}}.</ref> Conisbrough was inherited by William's young son [[John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey|John de Warenne]] in 1239, but he was still a minor and the castle was initially managed by his mother, [[Maud Marshal|Maud]].<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=6–7}}.</ref>

Under John, Conisbrough's [[constable]]s carried out a range of what the historian Stephen Johnson terms "colourful if rather unlawful dealings"; one was ultimately charged with having conducted "devilish and innumerable oppressions".<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> Further work was carried out in the castle during John's ownership, including modernising the castle hall and solar.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1980|p=81}}.</ref>

The castle passed to John's grandson, also called [[John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey|John]], who, in 1304, married [[Joan of Bar, Countess of Surrey|Joan de Barr]].<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> The marriage broke down but John's attempts to gain a divorce in 1316 failed in the law courts.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> John blamed [[Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster|Thomas]], the [[Earl of Lancaster]], for this and in response he kidnapped Thomas' wife; Thomas then retaliated by seizing Conisbrough Castle.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> [[Edward II of England|Edward II]] intervened in the dispute and confirmed Thomas as the new owner of the castle.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> In 1322, however, Thomas rebelled against the King and was executed, resulting in Edward taking control of Conisbrough himself.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> The King visited the castle in 1322, and spent 40 [[mark (money)|marks]] on repairing both Conisbrough and the neighbouring castle of Pontefract.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/>{{efn|name=Medievalmoney|The medieval [[Mark (money)|mark]] was worth two-thirds of an English pound; 400 marks was the equivalent of £266. It is impossible to accurately compare medieval financial sums with their modern equivalents; as a comparative example, an average English baron of the period had an annual income of around £200.<ref>{{harvnb|Pounds|1994|p=147}}.</ref>}} Edward was overthrown by his wife [[Isabella of France|Isabella]] in 1326 and the castle was returned to John.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> John had hoped to pass the property to his mistress and two illegitimate sons, but he outlived them and on his death in 1347 it reverted to the control of the Crown.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/>

Edward III gave the castle to his own son, [[Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York|Edmund of Langley]], the [[Duke of York]], who controlled it until 1402.<ref name=Johnson1984P7/> Edmund's eldest son, [[Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York|Edward]], owned it until 1415, when it passed to Maud Clifford, the widow of Edmund's younger son [[Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge|Richard]], who lived there until 1446.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=7–8}}.</ref> [[Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York|Richard of York]] then inherited the castle, and on his death in 1460 during the [[Wars of the Roses]] it passed to his son [[Edward IV of England|Edward]], who seized the throne in 1461, bringing Conisbrough back into Crown ownership once again.<ref name=Johnson1984P8>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=8}}.</ref>

===16th – 19th centuries===
[[File:Conisbrough Castle, 1785.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Engraving of the castle from afar in 1785]]
By the 16th century Conisbrough Castle was in a poor state of repair, and a royal survey carried out in 1537 and 1538 showed that the gates, bridge and parts of the walls had collapsed in a spectacular land slippage, and that one floor of the keep had also fallen in.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|pp=8, 10}}.</ref> The collapse of the walls was a consequence of the instability of the topsoil on top of the limestone spur, which was a mixture of clay and sandstone; once the clay was washed away over time, the remaining sandstone proved extremely unstable and liable to crack.<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|1969|p=215}}.</ref>

[[Henry VIII]] gave the ruins to the Carey family, who retained it until it passed by marriage into first the Heviningham and then the Coke families.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Smith|1887|p=112}}.</ref> The castle was not involved in the events of the [[English Civil War]] in the 17th century, and escaped the slighting that affected many similar properties, probably because the collapse of the outer walls had already made it indefensible and of little military value.<ref name=Johnson1984P8/> In 1737, after the death of Edward Coke, the castle and the surrounding manor were bought by [[Thomas Osborne, 4th Duke of Leeds|Thomas Osborne]], the [[Duke of Leeds]], for £22,500.<ref name="Smith 1887 112">{{harvnb|Smith|1887|p=112}}.</ref>{{efn|It is challenging to accurately compare 18th-century and modern financial sums. £22,500 in 1737 would be worth between £3.1 million and £364 million in 2013 terms, depending on the financial measure used.<ref name=MeasuringWorth>{{cite web|url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php|title=Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present|author1=Lawrence H. Officer|author2=Samuel H. Williamson|year=2014|access-date=31 December 2014|publisher=MeasuringWorth|archive-date=26 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826042917/http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/relativevalue.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}

In 1811 the novelist [[Walter Scott|Sir Walter Scott]] passed by the castle and later used it as the location for his novel ''[[Ivanhoe]]'', published in 1819.<ref>{{harvnb|Hull|2008|p=27}}.</ref> Scott only had a partial view of the property from the road and the events portrayed in the novel, set at the end of the 12th century, are fictitious; Scott believed the castle to have been Saxon in origin, a view shared by many 19th-century commentators.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1984|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Scott|1998|p=573}}.</ref> Although the writer John Wainwright was still able to praise the "picturesque view" around the castle in 1826, the antiquarian Ecroyd Smith commented with concern in 1887 on the changing character of the location, in particular the factories that were growing up around the new railway line and the "murky atmosphere" the industrial works created.<ref>{{harvnb|Smith|1887|pp=15–16, 39–40}}.</ref>

In 1859 [[Francis D'Arcy-Osborne, 7th Duke of Leeds|Francis D'Arcy-Osborne]], the Duke of Leeds, died, leaving Conisbrough to his nephew, [[Sackville Lane-Fox, 12th Baron Conyers|Sackville Lane-Fox]], the [[Baron Conyers]].<ref name="Smith 1887 112"/> The keep remained in good condition, but by 1884 it was apparent that repairs were needed and the antiquarian George Clark recommended urgent work to repair the stonework.<ref name=CLark1884BP157>{{harvnb|Clark|1884b|p=157}}.</ref> If finances allowed it, he also urged the reinstallation of a roof and wooden floors.<ref name=CLark1884BP157/> Limited repairs were subsequently approved by the trustees of Lord Conyers, although Clark's colleague, A. Ellis, expressed concerns that railings to protect the visitors who routinely climbed to the top of the keep had not been funded.<ref>{{harvnb|Ellis|1885|pp=399–400}}.</ref> A reported £500 was spent by the trustees renovating the castle ruins, including the construction of a lodge in the outer bailey for the castle keeper, completed in 1885, and improvements to the footpaths.<ref>{{harvnb|Dixon|1887|p=189}}; {{harvnb|Davis|2012|p=5}}.</ref>{{efn|Comparing 19th-century and modern financial sums depends on the financial measure used. £500 in 1885 would be worth between £47,000 and £651,000 in 2013 terms, depending on the financial measure used.<ref name="MeasuringWorth"/>}}

===20th – 21st centuries===
[[File:Conisborough Castle entrance.JPG|thumb|upright=1.6|The inner bailey seen from the outer bailey, showing the remains of the [[barbican]] (the protruding gateway at right) and the mural towers (built into the walls)]]
Conisbrough Castle was bought by the Conisbrough local council in the 1940s, who placed the castle into the guardianship of the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Public Works]] in 1949, but retained the freehold ownership of the land.<ref name="english-heritage1993">{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two sets of archaeological excavations were carried out on the site between 1967 and 1969, exposing the foundations of the buildings in the inner bailey, and then from 1973 to 1977, examining options for future visitor facilities.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1980|p=59}}; {{harvnb|Thompson|1969|p=215}}.</ref> By 1984, when the government agency English Heritage took over the management of the property, the condition of the visitor services was unsatisfactory and the industrial character of the surrounding area was discouraging tourists.<ref name="english-heritage1993"/>

In response, [[English Heritage]] and [[Doncaster Council|Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council]] formed a three-way agreement in 1988 with the Ivanhoe Trust, a local charity designed to generate new employment in the region.<ref name="english-heritage1993"/> Under this agreement the trust would manage the site, English Heritage would maintain the historic fabric of the castle, while the council would construct a new visitors' centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.conisbroughcastle.org.uk/CastleHistory/CastleHistory.aspx|title=Castle History|access-date=30 December 2014|publisher=Conisbrough Castle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401170403/http://www.conisbroughcastle.org.uk/History/history.htm|archive-date=1 April 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> A new, controversial visitor's centre was built in the style of a collection of jousting tents, while the floors and roof of the keep were reinstalled between 1993 and 1995 with [[European Union]] funding, in an attempt to limit the erosion of the castle stonework.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}; {{harvnb|Davis|2012|p=5}}; {{cite news|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|title=Deal lifts hopes for boom in castle visitors|newspaper=[[The Yorkshire Post]]|date=5 March 2008|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102002957/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Visitor numbers following the investments fell far short of expectations, however, and by 2006 had settled at around 30,000 each year, only slightly above the level in the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}; {{cite news|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|title=Deal lifts hopes for boom in castle visitors|newspaper=Yorkshire Post|date=5 March 2008|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102002957/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The external facilities did not age well and funding shortages led to the new audio-visual effects in the keep being turned off to save money.<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|2012|pp=5–6}}.</ref> Discussions between the three partners about the future of the castle took place, but relations broke down and English Heritage resumed the direct management of the castle in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/news/local/row-as-castle-trust-ousted-1-611267|title=Row as castle trust ousted|publisher=South Yorkshire Times|date=12 March 2008|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102001614/http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/news/local/row-as-castle-trust-ousted-1-611267|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The castle was closed for a £1.1 million programme of renovations in 2013, funded by the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]], as part of which a new visitors' centre and visitor facilities were constructed.<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|2014|p=11}}; {{cite web|url=https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/print/900000+Heritage+Lottery+Fund+award+confirmed+for+Conisbrough+Castle+30072012101000|title=£900,000 Heritage Lottery Fund Award Confirmed for Conisbrough Castle|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref> The castle is protected under UK law as a Grade I listed building and as a [[Scheduled Ancient Monument]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101192747-conisbrough-castle-conisbrough-ward|title=Conisbrough Castle, Conisbrough|publisher=British Listed Buildings|author=English Heritage|access-date=28 December 2014}}</ref>