18 June 2026 Barnard, Richmond, and Middleham Castles

 

Today we spent our time visiting North of York. Three castles, Barnard in Southern Durham County, and Richmond and Middleham in North Yorkshire. All three began with William I, but were built and lived in by separate families.

Barnard Castle was built in the late 11th to early 12th centuries by Bernard de Balliol. Prior to this, the earldom of Northumberland had been managed by Siward Digri, and his son, Waltheof. Both were Anglo-Saxon Lords, but had intermarried with the Vikings. Their loyalties to the Norman Lords was always suspect, and when the Bishop of Durham (Walcher)was murdered in 1080, William II decided to break the Earldom up into smaller Baronies, and Bernard inherited his from his Uncle, Guy de Balliol upon Guy's death around 1133.

The line of succession gets a little confusing at this point, so much so, that I have had to rely on the History of the Castle through the website of English Heritage. The first Bernard Balliol was a nephew of the original Guy de Balliol who was given the barony by William II. Bernard's first son, Guy, died shortly after inheriting the castle, and his brother Bernard II then became owner. When Bernard II died, Hugh de Balliol, the son of a cousin of Bernard II, inherited the castle around 1205. 

This is one of those cases where the firstborn son and heir of a Lord either dies, or doesn't have an heir. Unfortunately, when you keep gifting the castle upon a previous Lord's death to cousins and nephews who have the same name as previous owners, who can be left scratching your head. These Balliol's eventually left heirs who laid claim to the Scottish throne in later years, and you may remember the name popping up in Braveheart too, which is probably not historically correct, but the only people who know for sure have been dead well over 700 years.

The castle was a ruin, but still in pretty good shape. It was overlooking the River Tees on the West Side, and butted up against the town of Castle  Bernard to the East. It is very easy to imagine yourself walking on the battlements of this historic place all those years ago, and situated in the river valley as it was, it has some wonderful scenery to behold. 

John de Balliol II died in 1295, and King Edward I took ownership of the castle, until he bequeathed it to Guy de Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick, whose family retained the Castle for the next 164 years. My ancestors associated with this castle include a slew of Balliol's before 1300, as well as Guy de Beauchamp, and the wives of several Balliols, such as Cecily de Fontaines (1180-1227) wife of Hugh, and Petronilla Fitzpiers (1162-1253) married to Eustace de Balliol (1168-1209).

The next Castle visited was Richmond Castle in North Yorkshire. This castle was originally built of wood, and was lorded over by a nephew of William I, Alan Rufus. Several ownerships later, in was expanded in the 13th Century by a Great Grand Nephew Conan, who built the keep and constructed the stone castle we see today.

Richmond Castle was primarily known by it's Large, Square, 5 story Keep, which is very imposing over the town and the neighboring countryside. It took 140 steps to get to the top of the tower today. Here are a few views from the top of the tower.

There. I have just proven I climbed all the way to the top! So did Terry!

The Castle also had some nice gardens added to it, so I snapped a picture of it from atop the Golden Tower.

My ancestors associated with Richmond Castle include the first two Constables of the Castle, Roald Fitz Harscoit and his father, Harscoit de St. James. Margaret of Huntingdon, my 22nd Great Grandmother, died here in 1201, and Beatrice de Camerarius, my 24th Great Grandmother, was born here in 1130.

Last on the list was Middleham Castle, about 9 miles South of Richmond. This was another castle started by Alan Rufus, who built the first Richmond Castle. It was probably finished by another ancestor of his years later in stone, just like Richmond Castle was, and was built to protect the road between Middleham and Richmond. Alan Rufus' descendants eventually married into the Neville family in 1260, and the Neville family married into the Beaufort family (remember John of Gaunt and his wife Katherine Swynford's daughter Joan?).

My lineage actually started with Alan Rufus' youngest brother, Ribald, who became Lord of Middleham in the early 1100's. It is interesting to watch how that line actually ends up with me, and there were some pretty important Nobles in English History associated with it. These people had the last names Percy, Clifford, and many others, that I have already blogged about on this trip from other locations. 

So that is the importance of Middleham Castle to my ancestry, the Nevilles and Richard III. Richard III's son was born at Middleham, and was named Edward of Middleham, although he wasn't a direct ancestor of mine, this whole family represented on side in the War of the Roses. 

In later years, the castle became an administrative center, and after 1600, prior to the English Civil War, it was already falling into ruin.