Scarborough Castle

Scarborough Castle stands on a clifftop overlooking the town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, in England. The earliest castle fortifications on the site were built in the 1130s, and over the centuries several other structures were added. Today, the castle is a ruin, but still attracts many visitors to climb the battlements, take in the views and enjoy the accompanying interactive exhibition run by English Heritage.

History

Prior to the establishment of the castle in the twelfth century, an Roman signal station stood on the site, and there is some evidence of an Iron Age settlement. Little is known about the circumstances surrounding the original foundation of the castle: its founder was William le Gros, Count of Aumale (died 1179), a powerful Anglo-Norman baron who built the castle following his receipt of the Earldom of York from King Stephen in 1138. Some information has survived in the chronicle of William of Newburgh, a monk who wrote about the foundation of the castle in the 1190s. William le Gros built a wall on the landward side, and a tower at the entrance. It has been argued that these earliest fortifications were wood-built, so rapidly decayed; after twenty years, Henry II, who had ordered the barons' estates to be returned to the Crown, extensively rebuilt the castle, including the keep which survives to this day, and an inner wall to protect the bailey.