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Sandal CastleSandal Castle was established in the 12th century, and was one of two castles overlooking the town of Wakefield and the crossing point of the River Calder.

The other castle, at Lowe Hill, can be seen on the near horizon to your right. Today it is crowned with trees and is in Wakefield’s principal park, at Thornes.

Much of what we see here today at Sandal is the work of the Warenne family who established the castle and developed it. The first castle

was built in wood; the stone ruins we have today largely date from the 13th century.

From 1361 the castle was in the hands of Royal owners and gradually began to decline. The only exception to this decline is between 1482 and 1485 when King Richard III made major improvements to the castle.

This made it defensible and more comfortable. The decline continued again after this investment until 1646 in the middle of the English Civil Wars when the castle was finally sacked by order of Parliament.

Kitchen

Keep

Great Hall

Gatehouse

Great Chamber

Barbican

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Sandal CastleTHE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELDThe Battle of Wakefield 1460 was one of the major northern engagements of the Wars of the Roses.

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Great Chamber

Barbican

The field ahead and the land around was the scene of the battle. The battle was fought on the afternoon of 30 December 1460, between the House of York and the House of Lancaster.

On this occasion the battle was won by Lancaster and Richard Duke of York was killed. However, this was not the end of the war. The Lancastrian army had marched from nearby Pontefract Castle which today is also in the care of Wakefield Council. Another site linked to the battle and worth visiting is at the bottom of Manygates Lane, where the Duke of York monument lies.

Richard’s son, Edward, had his revenge in the following Spring. His forces defeated the Lancastrians in a very bloody battle at Towton, near Tadcaster. He became Edward IV.

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Sandal CastleTHE BARBICANConstruction of the castle’s Barbican probably began after 1240.

A ditch was cut into the original Bailey and on top of a rocky outcrop in the middle, a formidable Gatehouse was constructed. The Barbican’s outer entrance was built slightly offset from the Bailey’s Gatehouse in order to help with defence. Within the Barbican there was then a right angle bend to a third drawbridge leading towards the drum towers of the Keep.

Today at the bottom of the moat fine examples of ashlar masonry survive to a good height. This includes the bottom of the Keep’s drum towers. It is believed that the inner moat was never maintained and quickly filled up with debris.

Visitors can get into the moat via the stairs on the far side of the Barbican. While the moats often hold a small amount of water in the winter, as with most English castles, the moat was always intended to be dry. The current moat profile is a feature that was restored at the end of the 1970s excavations.

An artist’s impression of a rowel spur dating to the first half of the 17th Century, and excavated from the castle bailey (p254-256 of Sandal Castle Excavations 1964-1973).

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Keep

Great Hall

Gatehouse

Great Chamber

Barbican

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THE KEEP AND ITS VIEWThe Keep was constructed at the same time as its Barbican (post 1240), with the exception of Tower 4 which was rebuilt between 1482 and 1485, by order of Richard III.

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Keep

Great Hall

Gatehouse

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The Keep offers commanding views over the Calder Valley. According to an entry in a diary kept during the English Civil Wars it was possible to see the Keep at Pontefract from the top of Sandal’s.

The Keep was formed from four main towers, the ground floor from each tower can still be seen today as flat sections of paving stone. Behind you and from the lower section of the Keep viewing platform it is possible to see the remains of the steps and the

lowest stones from the door frame leading into Tower 1.

To the right of the visitor centre it is possible to see some more earthworks. These do not form part of the medieval earthwork moats, but are in fact the remains of a gun emplacement from the Civil Wars. The gun however, never arrived, and the castle fell in 1645, so this was the last addition to the castle.

Tower 4

Tower 1

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Sandal CastleBAKEHOUSE AND SALLY PORTTo the left lie the remains of the castle’s Bakehouse. In its southern corner are the remains of two bread ovens.

Beyond the walls of the Bakehouse are the remains of a large oven. Beyond the Bakehouse the curtain wall extends over the moat blocking access from the inner moat to the outer moat.

The doorway in the bottom of the moat does not sit at the original moat bottom, suggesting that it is either a later medieval addition or even post medieval. Its purpose is by no means certain, but it is likely to have been a sally port (emergency exit), when it was

blocked is not known. The wall at this location has also clearly seen much patching and repair. A buttress was added to it immediately before the sally port which makes dating the wall and its features difficult.

Artist’s impression of pottery vessels found within the barbican ditch, the first two date from 1270 – 1400, the last vessel dates from 1400 – 1450 (p.p. 133,135,145 of Sandal Castle Excavations 1964-1973).

Kitchen

Keep

Great Hall

Gatehouse

Great Chamber

Barbican

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Sandal CastleLARDER AND KITCHENThe larder was initially a single storey building, which was constructed towards the end of the main stone building phase.

This explains why the turret at the end of the Lodging Chamber is comprised of finely carved ashlar blocks, despite being within the Larder Wall. This resulted in the two walls not being properly bonded.

Later the building seems to have been extended to include a second storey which was accessed by means of converting a window at the end of the Lodging Chamber into a door. It is this first floor room that evidence suggests was used as a laboratory by an alchemist. Large amounts of industrial vessels of both glass and ceramic have been recovered from the moat outside this building, as well as

evidence of a number of hearths.

The Kitchen and its vented roof can clearly be seen in the Elizabethan survey drawings of the castle. The remains of the door jamb for the doorway leading from the Kitchen into the larder can be seen today, but the door from the Kitchen out into the Bailey has been lost.

This is an artist’s impressions of two of the 40 vessels excavated as 200 pieces from the barbican ditch. The vessels appear to be the type used for alchemy. You needed a licence to practice alchemy, and there is no record of one being granted for Sandal Castle (p57-59 of Sandal Castle Wakefield by Lawrence Butler).

Kitchen

Keep

Great Hall

Gatehouse

Great Chamber

Barbican

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Sandal CastleTHE PRIVY CHAMBER, GREAT CHAMBER, GREAT HALL AND LODGING CHAMBER

This range of buildings form what is known as the main stone range which was constructed when many of the other stone structures of the castle were built about 1240.

Many of the walls have been robbed out with the exception of the west wall of the Great Hall and the south west wall of the Lodging Chamber. The ground floors of the Great Chamber, Great Hall and Lodging Chamber were all vaulted storage undercrofts.

Towards the far end of the Great Hall, are the remains of the door jams of an entrance into the undercrofts and a doorway leading from the Great Hall undercroft into the Lodging Chamber undercroft.

At the end of the Lodging chamber is a circular section of facing stone that appears on an Elizabethan drawing of the castle as a turret. This probably provided access to rooftop walkways and the curtain wall.

Artist’s impression of a piece of stained glass depicting a falcon, the piece dates to the 15th century, it may be a reference to the House of York, which often used a falcon in fetterlock as its emblem. A fetterlock is a D shaped padlock, the bird is normally depicted sitting on the straight bar of the lock (P318-319 of Sandal Castle Excavations 1964-1973).

Kitchen

Keep

Great Hall

Gatehouse

Great Chamber

Barbican