Scarborough Castle

Next up, Scarborough. Yes, that Scarborough from the "Scarborough Fair" song (which, btw actually originates as a folk ballad from at least as early as the mid 1600s.) The song itself refers to a fair held in Scarborough during the Middle Ages and on. Although the fair no longer occurs, the town does hold various events to mark the date when the fair was traditionally held in the summer. Nowadays, the town is known for its beaches (although it is pretty fair north, so I wouldn't want to swim there except MAYBE in the hottest part of summer) and for its wicked awesome castle.

The castle is built on a headland jutting out into the ocean way up above the town below.

So as you can probably tell, it is a great big sprawling mass of castle and I love it. I think Scarborough is far and away the most impressive castle I've been to, just on account of its size and position.

Following is mostly a photo spam because I don't really have a history lesson for you (I'm not super familiar with the history of Scarborough Castle.)

This is approaching the keep. The keep would have included a hall for the knights and visitors. The upper level was likely the lord's chambers, however later a separate building was constructed to house the chambers for the lord & his family. In Scarborough's case, "lord" was actually the king; the early phases of the castle were built by an aspiring nobleman during the Anarchy- between 1135 and 1154, there was a period of civil war in England sparked by a crisis of succession to the crown. Henry I died without a male heir and there is some evidence to suggest that he was grooming his daughter Matilda (who, btw got into some pretty awesome stuff for a woman in the middle ages) to be his successor. Stephen of Blois, her cousin, was the son of one of William the Conqueror's daughters and essentially the kingdom was split between supporters of Stephen & Matilda. Stephen was officially crowned king, but he could not control large portions of the country (hence, the Anarchy). Anyway, after his death, Matilda's son Henry II became king and was perhaps understandably concerned about his dukes and earls and whatnot having fortress strongholds that could potentially be used in rebellion against him. Scarborough was one of the castles that Henry II claimed and took over as a royal castle, using the justification that the castle's construction had not been approved by the king, who was the only person who could officially grant permission for a castle to be built.

Scarborough features heavy fortifications and huge curtain wall, as well as a sharp cliff dropping to the sea to protect it, making it an ideal stronghold in the north of England.

And here's the other side of the keep, which has survived a bit more intact.

Scarborough was so well fortified that it was never militarily conquered. During the English Civil War in the 17th century (think Cromwell), control of Scarborough Castle switched between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians several times, however this was the result of siege- when the people holding the castle ran out of food & water, they surrendered the castle. The castle was so heavily fortified that the Parliamentarians finally blew a giant hole through the perimeter wall in order to keep the castle from being used against them again by the Royalists. Hmm, I guess I know more about Scarborough than I thought I did.

These are the remains of those royal quarters I mentioned earlier, which were built by King John in the thirteenth century.

I think these are the remains of the original hall and lord's chamber built before Henry II took over the castle and built the giant keep, but don't quote me on that because I don't really remember.

The stone work just before the horizon is the remains of a Roman signal station built to warn ships of the cliffs.

Scarborough is also home to the final resting place of the least famous of the Bronte sisters.

And now I'm only three posts behind!