Conisbrough Castle

Conisbrough Castle is a 12th-century castle located in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, whose present-day remains are dominated by the 97-foot (29.5m) high circular keep, which is supported by six buttresses.  In the mid-1990s, the keep was restored with a wooden roof and two floors being rebuilt.  Audio and visual displays now help to reconstruct a view of life in a medieval castle, while a history of the site is documented in the adjacent visitors' centre.  The building is considered one of South Yorkshire's primary tourist attractions and sees in excess of 30,000 visitors per year.  Today it is managed by English Heritage.

 According to Wikipedia, the name Conisbrough is derived from the Old English Cyningesburh, meaning "the defended burh of the King" and suggests the area once belonged to one of the English kings prior to the Norman Conquest.  The area is strategically placed on one of few historic crossings of the River Don and has been home to a fortification since at least 600 AD.  At the time of the Norman Conquest, the manor of Conisbrough was held by King Harold who was defeated at the Battle of Hastings by Duke William of Burgundy – also known as The Conqueror.

 The current castle was probably built on the site of an earlier Norman castle, built by William de Warenne who was the first Earl of Surrey and son-in-law of William the Conqueror.  Later on it was the property of Richard of York who was executed in 1415.

 By the reign of Henry VIII the castle was in a dilapidated state.  In the 1537-38 survey the Royal Commissioners found that the castle was already a ruin; from the description in the survey, it seems that most of the damage seen today had already occurred.

 In Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe, "Coningsburgh Castle" is based on this castle here in Conisbrough.  In the novel, Coningsburgh is a Saxon fortress and the keep is described in some detail.  Later on the castle featured in the film version of Sir Walter Scott’s "Ivanhoe", and with its many reminders of the golden age of knights in armour it makes a great day out as our photograph indicates.  I was taken on a day out featuring Father Bush, a priest from Nicholasville, Kentucky, who was visiting England for the first time.  He was so taken up with the idea of having a castle, that he thought it would be a great idea to set up a second collection in order to buy it and transport it to Kentucky.  Luckily, no one else had the same enthusiasm!