12th October, 2002

The day was wet, dismal and misty and the castle stood grey and forbidding as we approached it for the Bolton Castle Day School, organised by the Medieval Section and the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. Things looked slightly happier, however, after a coffee in the excellent cafe; and some 60 of us congregated in the medieval Great Chamber with its large open-grated fireplace and roaring fire. (It was amazing, actually, to see the amount of wood that was needed over the day just to keep this one fire going. The demand for timber in medieval times to fuel several such fires in the castle must have been tremendous). The support by so many members in such a relatively isolated spot, on such a dismal day, was most encouraging.

The meeting was called to order by Dr Paul Barnwell, (Chairman of the Medieval Section) at 10.25 am. Special thanks were made to Lord Bolton who unfortunately could not be with us on that day.

As general background, Sir Richard le Scrope was steward of the Royal Household and, later the Chancellor of England, during which time he built Bolton Castle. The building took 18 year to build, cost 18,000 marks and was finished around 1396. It was in this context that Dr Barnwell emphasized that the castle should be viewed more as a large residence, projecting an image of the power and importance of the owner over the whole area.

Dr Barnwell introduced Stephen Moorhouse, the first speaker, whose topic was the

“Setting of the Castle and Recent Work”.

Steve emphasized that the castle was designed as part of the landscape, not just as a building. In order to understand the castle one must also understand it's setting, the park, the associated watercourses and the gardens, all applied to a typical Dales landscape.

The use of many of the rooms according to the original plan was unknown. However he felt that the west-facing window at the side of the Great Chamber was crucial in any analysis of the building. From the outside this was more ornate than the other windows and it's view over what used to be the original private gardens suggested that this room was part of Lady Scrope's personal apartments. Traces of the original 14th Century gardens remain at the northern end of this field with mounds showing the fountain foundations. These remain despite the area being a tank training ground in the 2nd World War.

The water supply was crucial in understanding the layout of the gardens and park. A series of collecting reservoirs in the northern part of the park, some quite shallow, marshalled the water into the features required in a large ornamental garden, via a whole system of underground lead or stone conduits

Slides of manuscripts showed the layouts of typical medieval gardens, with emphasis on fountains and small ponds, herbs, plant pots, bee keeping especially in apple orchards, archery facilities and trellis works creating secluded gardens. The prospect of nude bathing taking place was also mentioned in these types of gardens, but one would need, surely, an element of masochism to try that out in Wensleydale with a north wind blowing round your trellis work!

One should not divorce the park from the castle. Whilst the Nevilles, over the valley, had a large number of 'parks', the Scropes only had this one with it's well defined borders. They did, however manage to include in it a medieval lodge, a 40 - 50 ft high signal tower and a banqueting tower. Rabbit warrens abounded and we should also realize that one of the uses for the park was, originally, to keep cattle, not deer - they came later. This backed up Steve's point that, as use changes, so does the landscape and walls cannot be considered in isolation. This, Steve felt, emphasized the need for a geophysical survey of the garden and grounds. Only then could the whole area be looked at in proper context.

Fabric survey and analysis of Bolton Castle by Jamie Quartermaine

The castle's history, in brief, is: -

1378 - 1399	Castle built
1403	Sir Richard le Scrope died
1568 - 1569	Mary Queen of Scots held
1577	Major programme of Elizabethan modernisation
1644	Castle in siege during Civil War
1645	The castle surrendered
1647	The castle was ordered to be 'rendered untenable' and the N E corner was slighted, mainly by the removal of the spiral staircases, which were fundamental to medieval castle construction
1761	N E Tower collapsed.
1990 - 1995	Lancaster University, with English Heritage funding, set out on a major project of consolidation in order to stabilize the fabric of much of the castle (although, certain parts of the Western range were omitted from the survey and consolidation process).

The aim also was to make a record of the condition of the castle in 1990, to detail the work of consolidation and to improve the analysis of the castle and its elevations, using 3 dimensional photographic techniques and attempting to record every stone.

The survey was done in a clockwise manner, first the North and East range, followed by the South Range, SW and SE Tower and last N W tower. Efforts were also made to establish to what extent floors were removed in 1648.

The Great hall in the Northern range, with vaulted rooms below on the ground floor, was obviously most impressive with the large windows reflecting the status and dignity of the hall

The castle was apparently constructed so that the lower orders would not meet their betters. A system of controlled access for different sets of rooms often reflected the status of the 'upper orders' There was, for example no single access all the way up the towers.

The Eastern range was made up of smaller rooms and contained the main gatehouse, vaulted and with its defensive portcullis, leading into the central courtyard
The Southern range incorporates the chapel, of a similar size to the Great Hall on the Northern range with it's very ornate windows and altar at the east end.

Although the castle was built primarily as a residence, the doors into the courtyard were all protected by portcullis, with windows above to ensure light was let in to rooms blocked off by the raised portcullis. The arrow slits, however are not true arrow slits and there was no moat. Siege weapons could easily have smashed their way in although the castle was strong enough to keep out 'casual' Scottish raiders.

The conclusion must be that the whole principle of the building was to impose majesty and create an impressive view for all visiting dignitaries. It really is to be wondered that the castle has survived so intact from the 14th Century

After a pleasant lunch enjoyed by many in the castle cafe, we met again for the topic of :-

Designed construction - the evidence of the 1378 contract - Malcolm Hyslop

The original contract still exists for the construction of the first phase of the castle in 1378. This was undertaken by a John Lewyn of Durham - Master Builder and covers the rates of payment and workload obligations on Lewyn and Scrope. Lewyn for example was to provide stone and lime whereas Lord Scrope was to provide kindling and wood for scaffolding. Lewyn was paid on a piece rate basis. Whilst many internal room dimensions varied from the original plan, the positions of the buildings and their relationship to each other is quite accurate. Changes are obvious, however, in the Eastern range.

Changes in the contract are obvious, however, in the South East Tower. The original contract asked for internal dimensions of 29 ft by 16.5ft, whereas the actual ones are 29ft by 21ft. The contract was also changed to placing the gateway in the Eastern range, not the tower. The tower itself was nearer 80ft high, rather than the 50ft in the contract.

A license to crenellate the building was granted 4th July 1379 and a license for the chapel was given in 1393 - consistent with the chapel coming rather late in the castle's construction.

Several anomalies were noted with the castle's construction: -

[1] To have the Great hall on the Southern range would have been more appropriate, as it would then have received more sun.

[2]On the Southern side the land falls away sharply so there would have had more room for the Great Hall

[3] The North East 'Kitchen' Tower collapsed in 1761, possibly, it has been conjectured, because it was part of a phase earlier than the 1378 construction of the castle and built to different (weaker) dimensions.

Comparisons could be made with Raby Castle in Co Durham, which was converted from a single story manor house in 1300 to a castle, which, in the later 14th Century, had the addition of a kitchen tower. The castle at Ashby de la Zouch had a kitchen tower added to a 14th Century hall in a similar manner.

This, therefore, could have been the precedent for the North East Tower at Castle Bolton with the remainder of the castle being built on in 1378. In other words Scrope could have intended to keep the original hall and the orientation of the Kitchen Tower was decided on and then converted later within a rectangular castle. A further 50ft was added to the kitchen tower, which helped contribute to the 1761 collapse.

The Architecture of Bolton Castle - Stuart Harrison

Stuart gave us a brief history of the development of military architecture in order to emphasize that Bolton Castle was not really a castle. He examined other castles for comparison, especially Scarborough, Helmesley, Conisborough and Brougham.

He concluded that castle architecture that 'means business' should have moats (Beaumaris), concentric ring defences (Caerphilly) square tower and curtain wall (Pickering).
By comparison Castle Bolton is not particularly impressive. We see, for example, a kitchen tower with big chimneys and flues, a SE 'garrison' tower next to a relatively weak external gateway, large windows near ground level (albeit with iron grills inserted during construction) and a lack of ready communication between floors.

Whilst some elements of defence were considered (portcullis protected doors in the courtyard) more emphasis was put on the residential, within which the Great Hall in the north curtain seems to have been most impressive, although now in ruins. There are flues in the tops of the windows to let the smoke escape from the fires rather than through a central hole in the ceiling. Candle brackets are found on the walls.

The whole of the ground floor of the south curtain wall appears to have been devoted to baking and brewing. The chapel, dedicated to St Anne in 1399,on the first floor in the southern range is quite large and impressive with its three` 'live in' cells for the clerics and a gallery to enable Lord and Lady Scrope to attend the services privately. Somewhat baffling was the room in the SW tower, near the bell, which was only accessible from the roof. It's use was completely unknown.

It appears that the Eastern range was the servant's end of the building and the western range made up that area lived in by Lord and lady Scrope

The Towers are equipped with water chutes to channel the water onto the adjoining ranges where it was directed to clean out the garderobes. This would, in some small way, help to alleviate the severe smell, which would build up from these facilities over time.

The SW tower is the most intact, having evaded, together with the west curtain, the order of the Commonwealth Committee of York on being rendered untenable

The NW tower, like the 2 south towers, is of 5 storeys, a basement and 4 chambers divided above into 2 suites of two rooms each.

The NE tower collapsed without warning on the night of 19th November 1761, possibly due to damage from the Civil War bombardment but also possibly because it had weaker foundations than the other towers. It is suspected that the foundations were part of an original manor house complex and not, therefore designed to carry the weight of a 4 or 5 storey building

Stuart also put forward the view that the whole of the castle may have been lime washed in order to emphasise this dale's outstanding building and making a substantial 'presence' in the area.


The last topic of the day was, by: -

Steve Moorhouse - Medieval use of the castle & its setting

Steve pulled together all the themes considered over the day. The building was ostensibly meant as a residence, although, as we see it now it is very sanitized. It was not merely a castle. It was a statement of Richard Scrope's power and position in society. Whichever way you approach it you will see it from afar.

The castle took around 18 years to build. using the quarries to the north east of the castle. There are still many remains of medieval mining tenements in this area.

Unfortunately the original contract doesn't tell us how all the building was lived in. Some areas are reasonably obvious: brewing in the basement, Mary Queen of Scot's room, well chamber in the basement, The Great Hall with it's dais, ornate windows and rough hewn walls covered in tapestry (there was a great demand for tapestry makers and fresco painters), was obviously most impressive. Several slides showed us that these types of rooms of this period were often decorated in bright colours with, sometimes, window glass, despite the expense.

Garderobes were very important in this castle with, somewhat unusually, their hand basins close by (always below a window) and with an alcove, possibly not for a light (no soot found!) but more likely for a chamber pot. Also, interestingly, these many garderobes were never built immediately above each other on different floors. It should also be remembered that urine was very important in craft processes and in the production of medicines, and so was often 'reclaimed' outside the castle In the Great Chamber, where we were having the lecture, the garderobe is next to the large fireplace, suggesting that, together with the rather ornate window, this was definitely one of the main suites - probably Lady Scrope's

In concluding, therefore Steve felt that, on such a cold dismal day as this, although we were not certain how all the rooms were used, we were lucky in that this building was one of the best preserved of it's kind in the country and we had, today, got some idea of what life would have been like originally in this impressive building.

Dr Barnwell then asked how many people would originally be housed in this castle. No records exist but Steve made the point that in 1611 Barden Tower had 114 people living in, so it could be deduced that Bolton Castle would have had at least 200.

Dr Barnwell then thanked the day's speakers and other helpers for a memorable day and appreciation was given in the usual way from the floor. The Day School closed at 5pm.

Don Flear