Spofforth Castle is the ruins of a fortified manor house located in North Yorkshire. The site is free to visit, maintained by English Heritage, and is located in the square in the village of Spofforth. The house itself dates from the 14th century and built for Henry de Percy, a very wealthy and powerful land owner and political figure. The castle is built into the bank of a rock hill, and the rock from the hill is used to create the wall on the eastern side. Earlier, the site was a Norman house, granted by William the Conqueror to the Percy family, and was where rebel barons composed the Magna Carta .
The Percy estates were confiscated by King Henry IV after rebellion and then in the War of the Roses rebellion against the king. However, the castle at Spofforth once again became property of the Percy family but was ruined during the English Civil War.
The castle is located at the back in a village green square, and visitors are free to walk to it. (Do watch if you have small children or pets because there are sheer drops and no guard railings from the walls on the green level.)
Visitors can walk down to the lower ground floor from the green square via a series of steep steps, but be careful as these may be slippery in wet weather. However, visitors can also enter from climbing down the bank.
There is a small stairway that is bricked up at the back and leads to nowhere. There were more buildings here at the remains of what is Spofforth Castle, but it's only the hall that currently remains.
A couple of ceilings remain intact at the right side of the building where visitors can explore the rooms.
I spent fifteen minutes enjoying a walk around the ruins of the castle. This appears to be a very popular place because there were two other groups wandering around the castle grounds at the same time. I believe that people probably have picnics here as it would be a nice place to sit and relax on a sunny day.
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