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Bolton Castle is a late medieval fortress constructed in North Yorkshire during the 1370s by Richard le Scrope, a wealthy nobleman and Chancellor of England. The castle exemplifies the quadrangular castle design characteristic of the period, featuring substantial stone walls arranged around a central courtyard with corner towers of considerable height. Built initially as a statement of aristocratic power and territorial authority, the castle gained further historical prominence during the English Civil War when it served as a Royalist garrison and subsequently suffered damage during parliamentary siege and slighting. The surviving structure, with its distinctive towers and curtain walls, remains substantially intact and represents a significant example of late fourteenth-century military and residential architecture in northern England.
Bolton Castle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1003582. View the official record →
Bolton Castle is a late medieval fortress constructed in North Yorkshire during the 1370s by Richard le Scrope, a wealthy nobleman and Chancellor of England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1003582.
Bolton Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1003582.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Deserted medieval village (1.9 km), Cobscar calamine house on Cobscar Rake, 770m east of Cobscar Mill (2.2 km), Penhill Knights Templar preceptory and earlier field system at Temple Farm (2.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Bolton Castle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Bolton Castle stands on Yoredale Group, bedrock that formed in the Bashkirian. The rock here is limestone with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks.