Richmond Castle and the River Swale

The Story Behind the Image - Richmond Castle and the River Swale

I love Richmond. Our family has stayed there twice and visited numerous times. We enjoy it so much we've started looking into house prices in the area. When you see a view like this it isn't hard to see why we fell in love with this wonderful historic town.

Richmond Castle was built shortly after the Norman Conquest by Alan 'the Red', a Norman lord who wanted to rule his new lands from a strongly fortified centre at the eastern end of Swaledale.

Over the next 300 years, the castle was owned by the Dukes of Brittany, in France until it passed at length to the Duke of Bedford, the Neville family, Edmund Tudor (father of Henry VII), and finally to Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III).

What makes the castle so impressive is that it did not rely on a central keep, or tower, but on a high curtain wall. That wall is best seen from below, on the banks of the River Swale.

This view was taken from the far bank of the river via a footpath off of Bridge Street. The bridge in the foreground is Green Bridge, built in 1789 by John Carr of York, perhaps the most famous architect in Yorkshire history.

It took me several visits to find the right angle for this photo and the time of day when both the castle and the bridge were lit by golden sunlight.


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