Bewcastle Castle is a ruined castle in the parish of

Bewcastle Bewcastle is a large civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. It is in the historic county of Cumberland. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 411, reducing to 391 at the 2011 Census. ...

in the English county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, a few miles from the Scottish border.

History

The first castle was built on the site of

Bewcastle Roman Fort Bewcastle Roman Fort was built to the north of Hadrian's Wall as an outpost fort possibly intended for scouting and intelligence. The remains of the fort are situated at the village of Bewcastle, Cumbria, to the north of the Roman fort at Bi ...

, around 1092. The castle is surrounded by a dry moat, the north and east sections of which re-use the Roman ditch. The castle was destroyed in 1173, but was rebuilt towards the end of the 14th century. It was decayed by the early 15th century when

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

granted it to his brother, the

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester ( ) is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curre ...

, who later became King

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

. The buildings were repaired and the gatehouse was possibly added at this time. From the late 15th century, the

Musgrave family The Musgrave family was a prominent Anglo-Scottish Border family with many descendants in the United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in ...

held the castle, and repairs were made in 1540s by Sir William Musgrave. In May 1599, Henry Widdrington described how a football match had been arranged at Bewcastle as an occasion to capture the Armstrongs of Whitehaugh. The Armstrongs heard of the ambush and made a surprise attack. In 1602, Thomas Musgrave was accused by Lancelot Carleton to the Privy Council of harbouring thieves in the castle. They fought a duel at Canonbie Holm to settle the issue. Bewcastle Castle was reputedly destroyed by

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

in 1641. The castle was in a state of ruin by the 17th century, and although much of the stone was removed for nearby buildings, much of the

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

with its internal

garderobe Garderobe is a historic term for a room in a medieval castle. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives as its first meaning a store-room for valuables, but also acknowledges "by extension, a private room, a bed-chamber; also a privy". The word der ...

still remains. The element "castle" in the place-name Bewcastle probably refers to the Roman fort within which it was built, giving rise to the unusual repetition of the word in the castle name. However, the Ordnance Survey gives the name as Bew Castle.Landranger Series sheet 86.

Gallery

File:Bewcastle - geograph.org.uk - 1945279.jpg, Bewcastle castle File:Bewcastle - geograph.org.uk - 460783.jpg, The castle

References

;Sources *Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, ''The David & Charles Book of Castles'', David & Charles, 1980.

External links

{{commons category, Bewcastle Castle Castles in Cumbria Ruins in Cumbria Ruined castles in England

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links