Skipton Castle sits to the North of the A6131 as it runs through the North Yorkshire market town of Skipton. An imposing medieval structure, the castle sits above Eller Beck to its North, with a deep ravine providing protection here. To the South, West and East, remains of a moat have been found, although these have since been built over.
It’s thought that the castle first began to take shape in around 1090 under Robert de Romille, a Baron of William the Conqueror. The original building would most likely have been a simple earth and timber motte and bailey castle. The castle was however, soon rebuilt in stone by William le Fortibus, and it is upon these foundations that the present day castle is founded. Only one 12th century piece of masonry remains, a simple arch, hidden away in the building.
By 1310, the castle had come under the tenure of the Cliffords, a staunchly Royalist family who backed the house of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses. Under the Cliffords, the castle underwent many changes; with the addition of massive stone drum towers in the bailey area, and the building of a curtain wall to encase further buildings within the castle’s protective walls. Robert Clifford was responsible for much of the building work done during this period, but he was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Roger Clifford, his son, too over the castle, and continued with the re-enforcement of the defences.
Robert’s and Roger’s defensive improvements can still be seen today. After walking through the gateway, which was a later addition, the first of the two huge drum towers can be seen straight ahead.
The castle gatehouse was built around 1485, when the castle was returned to the Cliffords after the Wars of the Roses. The gatehouse consists of four large round towers, with apartments built in between them. Topping the embattled parapets of the towers the Clifford motto can be seen….”Desormais”, Henceforth.
The large windows in the gatehouse demonstrate the fact that this was not built, or rebuilt, as a defensible structure. The wooden doors do however bear the marks of the Civil war siege. High up on both doors, small now filled wooden holes can be seen, possibly indicating niches that were used to fire muskets at the attackers. 
The castle is built around a small courtyard, called the Conduit court, and consists of a Hall, kitchens, apartments store rooms, as well as passageways to the drum towers, dungeon and document store rooms.
All are in excellent condition thanks to Lady Anne Clifford, who was allowed to restore the castle between 1657 and 1658, after the Civil War. Cromwell’s instructions were that the castle could be rebuilt on the condition that the walls that were rebuilt were not strong enough to resist cannon shot, and that any roofs that were replaced, were not strong enough to support cannons. He was determined that the castle should not be used as a military stronghold again. The siege that his army put the castle under, lasted nearly three years (1643 to 1645), and during this time the castle was nearly completely destroyed, leaving little work for his men when they came to slight the remains.About two miles to the North West of the castle, high up on the hills overlooking the town, a civil war battery can still be seen. This area, just over the brow of the hill, gave Cromwell’s parliamentarian troops the ideal position from which to fire directly into the castle. The castle’s occupants would not have been able to see the battery, as it is built just out of sight, however, the cannons sited here would have been able to fire repeatedly at the castle pretty much unopposed. The battery consists of a raised area of land, perhaps 40feet by 40 feet, and about 2feet high at its tallest point. There were another two battery sites in the town, used to bring cannon fire down on the castle. One was sited directly to the South of the castle and now has a housing estate built on it, and the third one has been lost, with no records stating where it was.
The walk around the castle gives the visitor unblocked views of the castle from all angles. Leaving the castle gatehouse and turning left up the A6131 affords great views of the thin curtain wall, rebuilt by Lady Anne Clifford, and the one remaining bastion tower. However, the best views can be had, when taking the river side walk to the North of the castle. Eller Beck, as mentioned above, provided a natural barrier against attack, and it is this walk that gives some awesome views of the rear end of the castle. High up above, Elizabethan and 13th century buildings can be clearly seen, demonstrating the difficulty any attacker would have faced.
The castle is open daily from 10am (except Xmas day)
The courtyard, now enclosed in a glass sun room, has spectacular pillared walls with original, possibly medieval windows still in situ. 
To the South of the castle, the 18th\19th century haha wall is still intact, preventing cattle from entering the grounds of the castle, whilst preserving the view out across the fields. 
The left hand wing has similar windows, although the ground floor windows look much older, the sandstone more weathered and the lintel at a jaunty angle. This wing is an almost identical copy of the right hand wing, except for the round Westmorland chimneys, and the blocked dove cotes. The ground floor side wall has a tiny window in just below chest level. It is probably about 8 inches high, and no more than 4 inches wide, and consists of three tiny leaded panes of glass. Likewise, there is a similar window on the outside of the first floor of this wing. This time the window is about 6 inches high, about 3 inches wide, and again consists of three tiny leaded panes of glass. This window has a slightly arched head, and a solid sandstone surround.
All the wood work in the hall is dark wood, probably oak (or so I’ve been told) and it dominates the house throughout making it dark and quite claustrophobic. The floor of the hall is made of huge slabs of what looks like Lakeland slate. To the right of the hall a small staircase provides access to the first floor North East wing. Above it is a small piece of vaulted ceiling. Two of the windows to this part of the house, contain tiny stained glass windows. Each window is no more than 5 inches high, and is a simple diamond shape, with the pattern\design painted in vivid yellow paint. Again, I’m told that these are all original. The first window contains the letters AG (for Anthony Garnett) surrounded by knot work. A grimacing skull is painted at the bottom angle of the window. The second window has a yellow fleur de lis capped with a crown. 
To the rear of the hall, a small low passageway takes you through to the South West wing ground floor. The date 1560 can be seen clearly carved into the left hand wooden panel of the doorway. The other side of this piece of wood is carved with a Latin inscription: “PAX HUIE DOMUI” with a date that is too feint to read. It perhaps says 1718. 
This small dark passageway leads to the hallway that links the older 14th century hall with the additional wing. There are three fine sand stone arches here, providing access into the one room of this wing. Up until the 1980’s, all but two of these were blocked off. The stone mason marks can still be seen carved into the stone uprights of the door ways. The floor of this passageway is of interest here. It continues into the room occupying the ground floor of this wing also. Legend has it, that this floor, collectively made of thousands of worn pieces of stone no more than a few inches long, is part of the old roman road that may have run along the banks of the River Kent, leading to the ford that was once placed where Stramongate bridge is now. Whether this is true or not….who knows, but this is a startling piece of architecture. 
Moving into the main room of this wing, the walls are made of the old dark oak throughout, and serve to partition the room from a small passageway that then leads onto the kitchen from the days the Castle Dairy was a restaurant. The door that separates the kitchen from the rest of the building would originally have been an external door. It is thick dark oak with huge metal hinges, and sits inside yet another sandstone doorway. The floor here is a continuation of the pebbled floor in the small passageway next door. 
Returning across the hallway and back through the central block, the area that was used as a bar is perhaps the most disappointing room in the whole house. The floor here has been replaced with a modern tiled floor. The bar area occupies an area that was once partitioned off but has since had the old wood panelling removed. All in all, the room is to all intents and purposes, a modern room.
Again this is made of the dominant dark oak wood. The main feature is the head board, which is decorated with two male heads, one with horns, the other with what looks like rodent’s ears. 
There are three maned lions beneath this, and the centre piece is probably the coat of arms of Anthony Garnett, for it is undoubtedly his bed. The coat of arms is made up of the letters AG surrounded with knot work (as in the stained glass windows) The second item of furniture in this room, is the dark oak ambrey. 
The cornice of this fanciful piece of furniture is inscribed with yet more Latin: “OIA VANITAS HONOR DIVICIE POTESTAS” The date 1562 and the initials AG. A lion’s head sits in the midst of the Latin inscription. This room has a beautiful barrel vaulted ceiling, with dark oak supports running its full length.
Where these supports are joined, there are carved wooden bosses with more coats of arms carved on them.
There used to be three of these bosses, but only two now remain. The first contains symbols representing the families of Parr, Fitz-Hugh, Roos and Anthony Garnett. The second contains symbols representing the families of Deincourt and Strickland. One of the oak supports rests upon a finely carved pair of Gryphon heads. 
There are also another four stained glass windows in this room. Again, each window is around 5 inches high, and diamond in shape. The first window shows the letters AG in yellow, with a grimacing skull beneath it. The second window shows an eagle plucking a child from a tree top. The third window shows the same scene, albeit with the yellow paint much removed. The last window shows the initials AG surrounded by knot-work. Besides the two main windows in this room, there are two additional tiny ones. Each window is no more than 8 inches high, and set within the thick walls. 
Moving back down the first floor corridor, a doorway gives way to what was reputedly the chapel of the house. The wall separating the hall way from this room is dark oak panelled, whilst the other main internal wall is oak with plaster partitions (archetypal Tudor panelling) The windows in this room lend themselves to the idea that it was once a domestic chapel. They are distinctly arched with small leaded panels. 
The First floor of the South West wing was unfortunately not explored. This wing is entered from the outside via a small flight of steps, and on the day I visited the keys were not available. A return trip will have to be made.
