Bolton Castle in the Yorkshire Dales is my favourite castle in our county, surrounded by picturesque scenery with an amazing view of Penhill opposite. The current Lord Bolton has spent more than 30 years working on the castle and gardens so that you can now access a lot more of the building, which was severely damaged during the Civil War.
Most rooms contain artefacts and/or relevant decorations which makes it more atmospheric than some other castles I have visited where all that is left is an empty shell. This is not the case at Bolton, there is armour in the armoury and an anvil in the forge, furniture in the bedrooms etc. and it makes imagining Bolton 500 years ago so much easier. The medieval gardens have been accurately restored and they are home to the castle falcons which take part in various events.
The history of the castle is rich. Owned by the famous Scrope family who were involved in many key events in European and British history, building on Bolton Castle began in 1379 and reached completion in 1399. The gatehouse and courtyard is imposing and expertly built with defence in mind.
An attacker would have to get past two portcullises at either end of the entrance supported by giant wooden doors, and in between them, murder holes from which the defenders could drop boiling oil easily onto their head. If they were good enough to breach the entrance they would then find themselves out in the open courtyard very exposed and showered by arrows and crossbow bolts from every angle. The castles defence played heavily on demoralisation and confusion as the courtyard contained 5 similar fortified doors that didn’t give away any clue of what lay behind.
It’s not just the defence that’s expertly thought out, the living conditions and comfort of the castle was said to be ahead of its years. Bolton boasted multiple garderobes and a sophisticated drainage system which carried kitchen water and sewage straight out of the castle.
The dungeon is grim, situated at the base of one of the towers and containing an oubliette. Prisoners were thrown down a trap door into a cell approximately 4m long by 3m wide which was cut out of the solid rock and very dark. Nobody knows how many prisoners were kept here over the time the castle was in use but human remains have been found including an arm bone still shackled to a rock.
I wonder what this person did to deserve such a fate, to be left in this cold, dark hole to die. We will probably never know, but the vast history we do know about Bolton Castle is fascinating!
