Bolton Castle

From the guidebook:

Feudal custom limited the extent and strength of private fortification and by the 12th century, crenellation (battlements), distinguished a castle from a manor house.  Any castle built without permission was known as an adulterine and could be forfeit to the King.  Sir Richard, the first Lord Scrope, a loyal and distinguished knight, was granted his licence to crenelate in 1379.  Bolton Castle was built on the site of the original manor house and, at an annual cost of 1,000 marks, was completed in 1399, for a total expenditure of £12.000 – an incredible sum in those days.

Although by its very nature, Bolton Castle was built for defence, it was also an extravagantly luxurious dwelling.

Imperfection

16 Comments CherryPie on Oct 5th 2011

16 Responses to “Bolton Castle”

  1. Jan says:

    I LOVE this photo! So well composed, it could be any time, any place. WONDERFUL!

  2. Looks a bit like Nunney Castle in Somerset. ;)

  3. jameshigham says:

    The name’s Scrope, Richard Scrope and I’ve a licence to crenelate.

  4. ....peter says:

    Magnificent framing on both shots of Bolton castle Cherie… thank you for the history also… £12.000 was a lot of money even today….peter:)

  5. Ah wonderful! I love castle ruins

  6. J_on_tour says:

    Magnificent building … & cost, seen from many points in Wensleydale. I saw this most recently from the vintage service bus that a friend organised in June.

  7. Claude says:

    What a fascinating place! Great to see so many walls still standing up solidly.