Castle Bolton
Castle Bolton is in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. This is one of the best preserved castles that remain in private ownership today.
The castle was built for Richard le Scrope, Lord Chancellor of England to Richard II between 1379 and 1399 at a cost of £12000. Sadly, the castle is only around three-quarters complete externally – and internally only a third remains habitable but it is still in use today by its present occupiers.
Originally, the castle consisted of four towers, all around five stories high though only one remains functional and this tower forms the link between the west and south ranges. Two of the towers have fallen into ruin, while in 1761 the northeast tower collapsed during a great storm as it had been weakened a century earlier by artillery fire.
The castle was very sophisticated for its time. It had private apartments, en-suite guardrooms and a plumbing system that was still in use during the Victorian times. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned here for six months in 1568. Her imprisonment also included 51 servants to attend to her needs so her time here wasn’t too uncomfortable. Her ghost is said to occasionally roam the courtyard.
On 21st July 2007 Northern Ghost Investigations and me visited this fantastic castle. Here are a few of the 100+ images I took.
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