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This webpage about
the Middleham has the following section headings:
· The Farndales of
Middleham
· Middleham, an
overview
·
Timeline of
Middleham
The Farndales of Middleham
Middleham
Middleham is
a small English market town and civil parish in
the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire. It lies
in Wensleydale , on the southern side of the valley upstream from the
junction of the River Ure and River Cover. There has been a
settlement since Roman times, recorded in the Domesday Book as Medelai,
middle ham or village.
Middleham Timeline
69 CE
The first known
settlement was during the Roman period. The IXth Legion of the Roman Army
conquered York in 69 AD and moved north. A branch road from the Great
North Road passed through Middleham to the Roman fort at Bainbridge.
Near Middleham, the Romans built a guard station to control traffic on the
River Ure.
1050
Before
the Norman Conquest, the lands in the area were controlled by Gilpatrick.
The manor was originally in the possession of
Ghilpatric a (Ryedale
and North Yorkshire antiquities, George
Frank, 1888, page
19).
1069
In
1069, William the Conqueror granted the land around Middleham to his
Breton cousin Alan Rufus, who built a
wooden motte-and-bailey castle above the town.
at
the Conquest, Allan, Earl of Brittany, had a grant of it (Ryedale and North Yorkshire antiquities, George Frank, 1888, page
19).
1086
By the time of
the Domesday Book in 1086, Alan had given the castle to his brother Ribald. Its
earthworks are still visible at William's Hill. Alan also built the castle
at Richmond.
from
him it passed to his brother Ribald, the first Norman lord, who by his wife
Agatha, daughter of Robert de Brus of Skelton, had a son Robert, surnamed,
according to Camden, Fitz Ralph or Fitz Randolph; (Ryedale and North Yorkshire antiquities, George Frank, 1888, page
1).
1190
Construction of
the castle that currently dominates the town, Middleham Castle, began in
1190.
he in
1190 commenced to build this castle. (Ryedale and
North Yorkshire antiquities, George
Frank, 1888, page
19).
1270
The
last heir of this line died in 1270, leaving a daughter, who married Robert
Neville, Lord of Raby ; through her the manor descended to his grandson, Robert
Neville, and afterwards to his brother Ralph, the hero of the battle of
Neville's Cross, fought October 17th, 1346, when Bruce was taken prisoner (Ryedale and North Yorkshire antiquities, George Frank, 1888, page
19).
The Nevilles,
Earls of Westmorland, acquired it through marriage with a female descendant of
Ribald in the 13th century. It was dubbed the "Windsor of the North".
1389
As early as 1389,
the Lord of Middleham Manor received a grant from the crown to hold a weekly
market and a yearly fair on the feast of St Alkelda the
Virgin. The town is built around two market places: the larger, lower one
is dominated by a medieval cross, topped by a modern iron cross in Celtic
style. The upper or swine market centres around the remains of a 15th-century
market cross and a line of steps. At one end of the market cross is a worn
effigy of an animal reclining and at the other there may have been a moulded
capital.
In the time of Richard II, Ralph Neville, styled the great Earl of
Westmorland, rebuilt this fortress, and the extensive and picturesque remains
of the present day may be the result of his restoration. He married the King's
half-sister, and according to Surtees, the castles of Middleham and Sheriff
Hutton, and many dependent manors and lordships, were settled upon the issue of
this princely alliance (Ryedale and North
Yorkshire antiquities, George Frank,
1888, page 20).
1462
The castle was in
the possession of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick when his
cousin Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III, came there to
learn the skills of knighthood in 1462.
Richard
Neville, the great Earl of Salisbury, succeeded to Middleham on the death of
his father in 1425 ; he was beheaded after the battle of Wakefield, and his
estates forfeited to the King, but in 1460, Sir John Neville was appointed
Constable of Middleham (Ryedale and North Yorkshire
antiquities, George Frank, 1888, page
20).
During
the Wars of the Roses, both Edward IV and Henry
VI were held prisoner there.
Edward
IV was here in April, 1461, and ten years later was slain on Easter Sunday, at
the battle of Barnet, along with his brother, whose titles, the " Great
Warwick," — " King Maker," the " Last of the Barons,"
will endure as long as history remains (Ryedale and
North Yorkshire antiquities, George
Frank, 1888, page
20).
1471
Richard, Duke of
Gloucester became master of the castle in 1471 after Warwick's death at
the Battle of Barnet. He used it as his political base for administering
the North on behalf of his brother Edward IV.
After
the death of Warwick, his Countess was deprived of all her possessions, and
Middleham and Barnard Castle were allotted to one of her daughters, Lady Anne
Neville, who married Richard, Duke of York, afterwards King Richard III - he
spent most of his time here, where his son Edward, Prince of Wales, was born
and died (Ryedale and North Yorkshire antiquities, George Frank, 1888, page
20).
1472
Richard married
Warwick's daughter, Anne Neville, in 1472.
1473
Middleham Castle
is where their son Edward was born in about 1473 and died in April
1484.
1485
Richard III, who
died in August 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, was the last reigning King
of England to perish in battle.
In the time of
Richard III, Middleham was a bustling market town and political centre.
Most buildings in
the old part of Middleham predate 1600; the old rectory has some medieval
features incorporated into it.
1607
In 1607 Middleham
was important enough for a royal court, covering all residents of the forest of
Wensleydale. Middleham and surrounding lands were part of the Crown
estates from the accession of Richard III until Charles I sold the
manor to the City of London in about 1628.
1661
In 1661 the City
of London sold Middleham Manor on to Thomas Wood of Littleton, and it has
remained in private hands to this day.
1915
In 1915 the
annual livestock market was still regionally important, but the weekly market
had been discontinued. Today the livestock market is in Leyburn.
Bibliography