After the Norman Conquest, in 1069, the land around Middleham was given to Alan Rufus or ‘Alan The Red’, a nephew of William the Conqueror. Rufus built a wooden motte-and-bailey castle, 500 yards to the south-west of where the present castle stands, on a site known as William's Hill. It was built to guard Coverdale and to protect the road from Richmond to Skipton. Alan Rufus was also the builder of nearby Richmond Castle. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 Middleham had been granted to Alan Rufus’s brother Ribald. This early castle was abandoned in the 12th century when a new castle was built centered around a massive stone keep . The construction of the present castle began around 1170 by Robert Fitzrandolph (grandson of Ribald) during the reign of Henry II when he built the keep and original bailey. The keep, one of the largest in England, had twelve foot thick walls and three floors; for its time, this would have provided palatial accommodation. It contained a great chamber, large kitchen, chapel, dovecot, cellars and the living rooms of the lord of Middleham.

English Castles

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