Warkworth Castle, Northumberland, England

Warkworth Castle, Northumberland, England

When William the Lion, king of Scotland, seized Warkworth in 1173, it was widely thought thatthis had been possible because the castle was "feeble in wall and earthwork". Subsequent owners apparentlydecided that this description should not be applied to Warkworth a second time, for the castle that can be seen today is one of the most powerful fortresses in nothern England.

the Earl of Northumberland raised the unusually shaped keep in around 1390. It is square , but has towers projecting from each of its four sides. One of these towers contained an elegant chapel, and there were comfortable living quarters in some of the others. Rainwater was collected on the roof and channelled to tanks in the basement, permitting a supply of clean water to basins and latrines - a great luxury in a medieval castle.

The 1st Earl played an active role in deposing Richard II in 1399, but he and his eldest son, known as Harry Hotspur (1364–1403), soon quarrelled with Henry IV, the king they had put on the throne in Richard’s place. Hotspur was killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. After the earl joined an unsuccessful conspiracy in 1405, Henry IV marched north and laid siege to Warkworth with cannon, forcing its quick surrender.

With the Percys disgraced, the family’s lands passed to the Crown. But Henry V restored the son of Harry Hotspur, another Henry Percy (1393–1455), to the family inheritance and earldom in 1416. The 2nd Earl is known to have undertaken building work at the castle, although it is not now clear what this was.

In the Wars of the Roses the 2nd and 3rd Earls supported the Lancastrian cause of Henry VI but were killed at the Battles of St Albans (1455) and Towton (1461) respectively. Warkworth was then occupied as the Yorkist headquarters. From there the Earl of Warwick, leader of the Yorkist forces, supervised the sieges of Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles, which remained centres of Lancastrian resistance.

In 1470–71 Edward IV restored the eldest son of the 3rd Earl to his inheritance and title. The heraldic decoration on the Lion Tower shows that after his marriage, in 1472, the 4th Earl, Henry (c 1449–1489), began the complete remodelling of the bailey. He also planned a new collegiate church in the castle, but this was abandoned after he was murdered in 1489.