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| We once had a castle ... |
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| We once had a castle ... |
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Yes, Leeds did once have its very
own castle. de Laci, in turn, passed the village to the control of a Ralph Paganel, another Norman baron, in 1089. |
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| It is thought that Ralph had the castle built as part of the Norman administration as Leeds was on a major route from York across the Pennines to Lancashire. There are no surviving descriptions or illustrations of the castle but we do know the site and that it had a park attached |
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The castle was built on Castell Hyll, now where the Scarbrough public house is situated. The structure would probably not have been the romantic idea of a castle but more likely a fortified manor house similar to the 'castles' in northern Scotland. Very little is known of the history of the castle but we do know that King Stephen, probably the most incompetent king England has ever known, laid siege to the castle in 1139 on his way to attack the Scots. Also, King Richard II was held there following his capture by Henry of Bolingbroke (the future King Henry IV). |
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As was said, the castle had a park
attached to it. We know a lot more about the park than the castle
and still today there are echoes in the city of Leeds. A wall
surrounded the castle with a stile on the northern side leading
into the park. From there you could have a pleasant stroll up
Park Row, and down to Park Square, a small square built on the
side of the park. Just to the east of Park Row the lord of the
manor gave some land to the villagers for the purposes of practising
their archery skills.
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The village was about half a mile east
from the castle. They were joined by a small cart track. The
Old English name for a manor-stronghold-fortification is 'burh'.
So to get to the castle from the village one had to travel along
the burh lane. That same cart track grew into one of the busiest
streets in the city centre, Boar Lane. In time, the castle fell into disrepair and it is thought that the early medieval bridge was built from the stones from the castle. A report of 1341 states that there was 'a site of a manor house without any building, enclosed by a moat, with a grange (farm buildings) now built'. |
| On the site the lord of the manor had built a manor house. The local lord occupied this house and had built, close by, a mill. By law the locals had to have their corn ground at the mill and pay for the privilege. A 'nice little earner' as we say today. As part of the feudal system land was leased to tenants who had to pay rent for the land and do labour for the local lord. These tasks would have included farming the lord's fields and in Leeds repairing the dam. |
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The dam was constructed by the river Aire and used to divert water to the manorial mill. That medieval dam still exists to this day although you have to go under the railway station into the Dark Arches to see it. |
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In time the feudal system gave way to more
modern systems and the manor house was sold on to other occupiers.
In 1792 Christopher Wilson, the Bishop of Bristol inherited the estate. Hence the, then, small road Bishopgate Street at the side of the site. He was an absentee landlord and seems to have used the estate purely as a money making venture. |
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He sold the attached park in 1805
for building purposes. A section of the manor house was converted
into a hotel-public house. Once called the King's Arms, Henry
Scarbrough occupied it in 1823. Note the spelling, nothing to
do at all with the east coast seaside resort.
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