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[[File:Wressle Castle, 2009.jpg|thumb|All that remains of the building is the south range|alt=A stone building in a field, with a tower at each end.]]
'''Wressle Castle''' is a ruined palace-fortress in the [[East Riding of Yorkshire]], England, built for [[Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester|Thomas Percy]] in the 1390s.<ref>{{harvnb|Emery|1996|p=417}}</ref> It is privately owned and it is usually open to the public for a few days each year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wresslecastle.org
After Thomas Percy was executed for rebelling against [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]], Wressle Castle was confiscated by the Crown.<ref name=Brown>{{harvnb|Brown|
The castle was embedded within an ornamental landscape, with two gardens laid out at the same time as the castle was founded and a third created later. Wressle was intended as a high-status residence rather than a fortress and was never besieged. However, it was held by Parliament during the [[English Civil War]] and partly demolished in 1646–50, leaving the south range still standing. Nearly 150 years later, it was further damaged by a fire that struck the house. In the 21st century, [[Historic England]], [[Natural England]] and the [[Country Houses Association#Country Houses Foundation|Country Houses Foundation]] funded repairs to the castle ruins.
==History==
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[[File:Wressle-Castle-29042011.jpg|thumb|alt=A stone building in a field, with a tower at each end.|Ruins of Wressle Castle]]
Though Henry IV gave Thomas Percy influence in south Wales, relations between the two deteriorated due partly to delays in payment. Thomas’ nephew, Henry Percy, rose in armed rebellion in July 1403 and Thomas joined him. The rebellion culminated in the [[battle of Shrewsbury]] in which Thomas Percy was captured. Two days later, on 23 July, he was beheaded and his property – including Wressle Castle – was subsequently confiscated by the crown.<ref
Percy died at Wressle in 1527 and was succeeded by his son, [[Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland|Henry Algernon Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hoyle|2008a}}</ref> The [[Pilgrimage of Grace]] was a popular revolt against the rule of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] in 1536 partly in response to the [[dissolution of the monasteries]]. The rebels in Yorkshire were led by [[Robert Aske (political leader)|Robert Aske]] and in October he sought the support of the Percy family. Aske travelled to Wressle Castle and tried to persuade Henry Algernon Percy, who at the time was suffering from illness, to join the rebellion. Though initially opposed to Aske, Percy eventually gave him control of Wressle Castle.<ref>{{harvnb|Hoyle|2001|pp=7, 17,
Antiquarian [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] visited Wressle Castle in about 1540. He wrote in his ''Itinerary'' that the castle was "one of the most proper beyond the Trent, and seemeth as newly made ...The castle is all of very fair and great squared stone, both within and without". He also gave the first surviving description of the castle gardens, noting that they were "exceedingly fair" and with orchards beyond the moat.<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Neave|1984|p=60}}; {{harvnb|Richardson|Dennison|2015|p=9}}</ref> The Scottish nobleman [[Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox]] was lodged at Wressle in January 1545.<ref>Edmund Lodge, ''Illustrations of British History'', vol. 1 (London, 1791), pp.
[[File:Algernon Percy.jpeg|thumb|left|upright|alt=A man in 17th-century clothing stood next to an anchor.|[[Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland]] was ordered to complete demolition of Wressle Castle in 1650.]]
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The castle was garrisoned by parliamentarians during the [[English Civil War]] during which time it was badly damaged. At the time it was estimated that the damaged to the castle and surrounding area would take £1,000 to repair.<ref name="Richardson 2015 12">{{harvnb|Richardson|Dennison|2015|p=12}}</ref> Wressle Castle was [[slighting|slighted]] (partially demolished) on several occasions in 1646–50. The 1648 demolition work was focused on the castle's battlements,<ref name=RD192>{{harvnb|Richardson|Dennison|2014–15|p=192}}, citing {{harvnb|Rakoczy|2007}}</ref> with a contemporary letter noting that “[Parliament’s] agents would show no care in preserving any of the materials, but pitched of[f] the stones from the battlements to the ground”<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Rakoczy|2007|p=101}}</ref> Destruction was more extensive two years later, when [[Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland]], was ordered to demolish everything that remain except the south range of the castle. The earl would be allowed to use the surviving range as a manor house.<ref name="Richardson 2015 12"/> The damage was not confined to the castle buildings, and probably affected the ornamental landscape.<ref name=RD192/>
The castle remained with the Percy family until the mid-18th century when it passed to the [[Earl of Egremont|earls of Egremont]]. The lands and castle were then inherited by [[Elizabeth Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (1716–1776)|Elizabeth Seymour]] who assumed the name Percy and was later Duchess of Northumberland. Wressle Castle was occupied by a [[tenant farmer]] who on 19 February 1796 caused a fire which gutted the castle's remaining wing. He had been trying to clear the chimney. A report three months later in ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine]]'' noted that “This loss was of truly national significance".<ref>{{harvnb|Brears|2010|pp=61–63}}</ref> The farm continued to be leased to tenants, and the farmhouse which still stands was built {{circa|1810}}. By 1880 the castle was partially covered in ivy. In 1957 the castle and farm were sold to the Falkingham family who own the site today.<ref>{{harvnb|Richardson|Dennison|2015|pp=14–15}}</ref>
== Conservation and management ==
Wressle Castle is now a [[Grade I listed]] ruin<ref>{{NHLE|num=1083170|desc=Ruins of Wressle Castle|access-date=7 February 2013}}</ref> and a [[scheduled monument]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1005210|desc=Wressle Castle|access-date=23 March 2015}}</ref> The remains include earthworks indicating the moat, and some parts of the castle: the remains of the two towers of the south range; and a building fragment, thought to have been a bakehouse.<ref name=PN768>{{harvnb|Pevsner|Neave|2002|p=768}}</ref><ref name=Pastscape>{{cite PastScape|mnumber = 59470|mname=Wressle Castle|access-date=26 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1160652|desc=The bakehouse at Wressle castle approximately 30 metres north of ruins of Wressle castle|access-date=5 January 2015}}</ref> According to [[Historic England]], the site was first investigated archaeologically in 1993, when Humberside Archaeology Unit held a [[watching brief]].<ref name=Pastscape/> The state of the site deteriorated to the point at which in 1999 Wressle Castle was included on the [[Heritage at Risk Register]]. Historic England, [[Natural England]] and the [[Country Houses Association#Country Houses Foundation|Country Houses Foundation]] invested £500,000 in repairing the castle and in 2015 Wressle was no longer considered ‘at risk’ and was removed from the register.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/har-2015-registers/yo-har-register2015.pdf/ |format=PDF |title=Heritage at Risk: Yorkshire Register 2015 |publisher=Historic England |access-date=16 February 2016 |page=6}}</ref> This included architectural and landscape surveys carried out by Ed Dennison Archaeological Services, with funding from the Castle Studies Trust for the landscape survey.<ref>{{harvnb|Richardson|Dennison|2015|pp=1–2}}</ref>▼
Wressle Castle is now a [[Grade I listed]] ruin<ref>{{NHLE|num=1083170|desc=Ruins of Wressle Castle|access-date=7 February 2013}}</ref> and a [[scheduled monument]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1005210|desc=Wressle Castle|access-date=23 March 2015}}</ref> The remains include earthworks indicating the moat, and some parts of the castle: the remains of the two towers of the south range; and a building fragment, thought to have been a bakehouse.<ref name=PN768>{{harvnb|Pevsner|Neave|2002|p=768}}</ref><ref name=Pastscape>{{cite PastScape|mnumber = 59470|mname=Wressle Castle|access-date=26 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1160652|desc=The bakehouse at Wressle castle approximately 30 metres north of ruins of Wressle castle|access-date=5 January 2015}}</ref>
▲
As part of the conservation and repair work, ecological surveys were carried out. They found four different species of bat at the site across 20 roosting locations. Repair work was timed to minimise the impact on the bats, and some cracks were left as they were so that they could continue to be used as roosts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nature recovery and the historic environment |url=https://www.algao.org.uk/sites/algao.org.uk/files/2023-08/Nature-Recovery-and-the-Historic-Environment_2023_External-Final.pdf |access-date=1 December 2023 |website=Natural England}}</ref>
==Architecture==
[[File:LumleyCastleCopperplate.jpg|thumb|alt=A square stone building with towers at each corner.|An 18th-century engraving of [[Lumley Castle]], which may have been designed by the same architect as Wressle.]]
A [[quadrangular castle]], Wressle Castle was laid out with four ranges in a square around a courtyard. At each corner was a tower, and in the centre of the east side was a five-storey [[gatehouse]]. Clockwise from north east the corner towers were named the Constable Tower (where the constable who ran the castle on a daily basis lived), the Chapel Tower, the Lord's Tower, and the Kitchen Tower.<ref>{{harvnb|Neave|1984|pp=58–59}}</ref><ref name=PN768/> Opposite the gatehouse, in the castle's west range, was the [[great hall]] and the Lord's Tower in the south west contained the owner's accommodation and private rooms.<ref>{{harvnb|Emery|1996|p=415}}</ref>
The Chapel Tower contained the [[castle chapel]] which spanned two storeys, with the 'Lady's Chamber' and a library above. The 'Lady's Chamber' is the only explicitly space for women in the castle.{{sfn|Brears|2010|pp=79-83}}
Based on architectural similarities with the castles of [[Sheriff Hutton Castle|Sheriff Hutton]], [[Bolton Castle|Bolton]], and [[Lumley Castle|Lumley]], historian Eric John Fisher suggested that Wressle Castle was built in the last quarter of the 14th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Fisher|1954|p=4}}, cited by {{harvnb|Richardson|Dennison|2014–15|p=191}}</ref> This coincides with the career of [[John Lewyn]], who designed the great tower at [[Warkworth Castle]] and worked at Lumley, both Percy properties. Archaeologist Malcolm Hislop suggests that Lewyn also designed Wressle, and that "it is difficult to believe that [Lumley and Wressle] were designed independently of each other."<ref>{{harvnb|Hislop|2007|p=46}}</ref>
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==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
*{{citation |last=Brears |first=Peter |year=2010 |title=Wressle Castle: Functions, Fixtures and Furnishings for Henry Percy 'The Magnificent' fifth Earl of Northumberland, 1498–1527 |journal=The Archaeological Journal |volume=167 |pages=55–114 |doi=10.1080/00665983.2010.11020793|s2cid=161565669 }}
*{{
*{{citation |last=Emery |first=Anthony |year=1996 |title=Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales: Volume I Northern England |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521497237}}
*{{citation |last=Fisher |first=Eric John |title=Some Yorkshire estates of the Percies, 1450–1650 |publisher=University of Leeds (PhD thesis) |year=1954 |url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/3261/ |type=phd }} {{open access}}
*{{citation |last=Hislop |first=Malcolm J. B. |title=John Lewyn of Durham: A Medieval Mason in Practice |year=2007 |publisher=BAR British Series 438 |isbn=978-1-4073-0066-5 |doi=10.30861/9781407300665}}
*{{citation |last=Hoyle |first=R. W. |title=The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-820874-X}}
*{{
*{{
*{{citation |last=Johnson |first=Matthew |year=2002 |title=Behind the Castle Gate: From Medieval to Renaissance |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-25887-1}}
*{{citation |last=Neave |first=David |year=1984 |title=Wressle Castle |journal=The Archaeological Journal |volume=141 |pages=58–60}}
*{{cite book|title = Yorkshire: York and the East Riding|
*{{citation |last=Rakoczy |first=Lila |title=Archaeology of destruction: a reinterpretation of castle slightings in the English Civil War |publisher=University of York (PhD thesis) |year=2007 |url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/11092/ |type=PhD }} {{open access}}
*{{citation |last1=Richardson |first1=Shaun |last2=Dennison |first2=Ed |title=Wressle Castle, East Yorkshire: Gardens Survey Interim Summary |year=2014–15 |journal=The Castle Studies Group Journal |volume=28 |pages=190–198}}
*{{citation |last1=Richardson |first1=Shaun |last2=Dennison |first2=Ed |title=Garden and Other Earthworks, South of Wressle Castle, Wressle, East Yorkshire: Archaeological Survey |year=2015 |publisher=Ed Dennison Archaeological Services and the Castle Studies Trust
{{Refend}}
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