Wressle Castle was built for Henry, 3rd Lord Percy, or his second eldest son, Sir Thomas Percy in the late 14th cetury. The exact dates of construction are unknown and reputable sources disagree. A quadrangular, moated, site, Wressle was both a comfortable home and defensive structure. During the Wars of the Roses the site changed hands between the Percy and Neville families as their fortunes changed. 

Wressle Castle

Wressle Castle was built in the late fourteenth century. It is unclear as to exactly when, leading to varied suggestions that either Henry, 3rd Lord Percy, or his son Sir Thomas Percy [later Earl of Worcester] were responsible for its construction. No licence to crenellate Wressle remains, leaving 1402 as the earliest known documented reference to Wressle being fortified.

The style in which Wressle is built has led to suggestions that it was designed under the supervision of John Lewyn. Lewyn was a master-mason who had overseen work at many northern castles in the late 14th century. For example, there are many similarities between the design at Wressle and the quadrangular castles he worked on at Bolton in Wensleydale, Raby, and Sheriff Hutton.

Design of Wressle Castle

The original design of Wressle Castle was a quadrangular structure. This had towers at each corner, with a gatehouse built into an additional tower in the centre of the castles eastern wall. Between each of the corner towers was a range. These ranges incorporated the varied rooms required to make a large fortified residence function effectively.

The castle itself is roughly 50 metres by 50 metres at its base. It sits on an a man made island that extends slightly beyond the base of the castle [ranging from 80 to 90 metres across at varied points]. The moat around the castle is now visible through examination of the earthworks that created it. The width and depth of the moat was irregular, with the widest point of the moat being some 20 metres.

Wrestle Castle’s Landscape

Part of a Geophysical survey at Wressle Castle funded by the Castle Studies Trust.

South-East / Chapel Tower

The chapel was in the tower at the eastern end of the southern range. This tower had four storeys. The High Chapel itself was located on the first floor. It had windows in two walls, allowing natural light into the place of worship.

In the second floor of this tower was the Lady’s Chamber. It could be accessed from two entrances and was the only part of the site that was effectively women only.

The third floor held a study, or library. It was described by John Leland:

a Study, caullid Paradise: wher was a Closet in the middle of 8 squares latised aboute, and at the Toppe of every square was a Desk ledgid to set Bookes on Cofers withyn them, and these semid as joinid hard to the Toppe of the Closet: and yet by pulling, one or al wold cum downe briste higthe in rabettes and serve for Deskes to lay Bokes on

John Leland writing in 1538

Above the Library was a roofed top floor which incorporates some defensive features at its edges. It was accessible either from the Lady’s chamber, or via a stairwell that connected each storey. Given the restricted access to the Lady’s Chamber this rooftop space was among the most secure places within the castle.

Other rooms within Wressle Castle

For details of the remainder of the towers and rooms within the castle, see section 5 [page 36] of this in depth description of the functions of each part of the building. It is a report by the Castle Studies Trust covering usage, changes of usage, and internal decorations for each part of the castle. The report includes references from a variety of sources which provide a vivid description of how richly decorated and maintained the castle was over it’s time as a functioning fortified site.

Wressle estate

Whilst the castle on it’s moated island is the main feature of the site, it did not stand in isolation. On the far side of the moat, on the eastern side, stood a Base Court. This was a courtyard surrounded by buildings that serviced the castle and housed equipment. To the northern side of the moat island can be found another moated island which was described as being home to a New Garden on 17th century maps. The same maps show what they call the Old Garden to the south of the main moated island.

In simple terms the castle was at the centre of an estate which serviced its needs. The gardens were landscaped and ornamental in nature. Gardens and farming for produce of food for the inhabitants and staff of the castle lay in nearby villages.

Wressle and the Percy-Neville Feud

In 1403 the Percy family were heavily involved in a revolt against King Henry IV. As a consequence of his involvement in the revolt, Thomas Percy Earl of Worcester was executed. Alongside his execution, in July 1403, the Crown confiscated his estates, including the Manor and Castle at Wressle.

The estates at Wressle then were handed to the care of a Constable, Robert Babthorpe. They were then transferred into the estates of the Queen Consort, Joan of Navarre. From Joan of Navarre the holding of Wressle becomes a little confusing as it is referred to as having been in the hands of Ralph Neville Earl of Westmorland but also to John Duke of Bedford.

Wressle was mentioned in Inquisitions Post Mortem relating to the Duke of Bedford. One hearing, held at Wressle in 1437, noted the holding of the manor by the deceased Duke:

Wressle, the manor and castle. There is a manor and castle, with a garden around the castle, worth nothing yearly; 70 a. demesne land, worth 58s. 4d. yearly; 10 a. meadow, worth 11s. 8d. yearly; 22d. and 1lb cumin free rent from two tenants, payable at Christmas; 8 messuages and 14 bovates of land, worth 110s. yearly; 15 cottages, worth 20s. yearly; 12 wasted crofts, worth nothing yearly; a park, worth 40s. yearly; a fishery, worth 6s. 8d. yearly; a windmill, worth 6s. 8d. yearly; the following in Breighton, parcel of the manor and castle – 4 messuages, worth 13s. 4d. yearly; 3 cottages, worth 3s. 6d. yearly; 4 wasted crofts, worth nothing yearly; and 60 a. land and meadow, worth 40s. yearly.

Inqusition Post Mortem. Additional information here.

After this, Wressle passed into joint owenership. Two thirds of the manor and estate were held by the Crown. The final third was held by Jacquetta Duchess of Bedford as part of her Dower.

Things get complicated…

In 1438 the Crown granted the two third share that they held to Ralph, Lord Cromwell. He could therefore do as he wished with his share. The following year, however, an Act of Parliament was passed that restored Thomas Percy’s estates to his kin. In short, Lord Cromwell and the Percy family now both had legal claims to the manor, castle, gardens.

Ralph Lord Cromwell had no issues, so upon his death his estates would be inherited by two of his nieces. The elder had married firstly Lord Willoughby, and secondly, Sir Thomas Neville. Lord Cromwell’s younger niece married Humphrey Bourchier, who was a nephew of the Duke of York. Both nieces therefore had marriages to leading Yorkists – and the two husbands were related through marriage as well.

Wressle and the outbreak of violence

When Lord Cromwell’s niece was due to marry Sir Thomas Neville this presented a major problem to the Percy family. They were locked in a regional feud with one branch of the Neville family: that which Sir Thomas was a member of. Lord Cromwell was also seemingly intending to settle the Manor of Wressle on the newlyweds.

Whilst Ralph, Lord Cromwell was entitled to do so, the estate had been part of those which theoretically had been reinstated to the heirs of Thomas Percy Earl of Worcester. Not only that but Wressle was one of the most luxiourious and alluring Manors that had been stripped from the Percy family as a result of the Earl of Worcester’s treason in 1403. The Percy family had assigned the manor, once recovered, to Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont.

As a result, there are younger generations in both the Neville and Percy families who stood to gain, or lose, the holding of Wressle. It was a scenario that some of the younger members of both families were unwilling to accept to the point where they were willing to fight over the matter.

That there was a problem in the North was well known. Tension between the younger sons of the Earls of Salisbury and Northumberland had been growing. Both families needed to maintain or increase their estates: a matter made more urgent by the consequences of a failure of the agricultural economy in the north. King Henry VI had issued summonses to Lord Egremont to appear before him at court. These had been ignored, as was a later order to Egremont to prepare himself and a force for urgently needed service in Gascony.

The normal means of attempting to tackle disorder failed. Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, was issuing livery as early as May 1453. This in turn prompted a response from younger members of the Neville family. Thereafter a series of clashes, raids, and riots broke out with Percy and Neville bands of men attacking property held by the other party or their retainers.

• Margaret Clervaux, widow, forcibly expelled from Manor of Sandholme by Sir John Salvain. 12 July 1453.
• Sir Richard Percy raided Duchy of Lancaster held manors of Halton and Swinden. 24 July 1453.
• Sir Richard Percy seized a servant of the Earl of Salisbury in a raid on Gargrave church. 6 August 1453.
• Sir John Neville raided a property held by Lord Egremont at Catton near Topcliffe. Date unclear. 29 June [KB9/149/8,m 5) or 29 July 1453 [Griffiths] or August [Various] 1453.

Heworth Moor

The disagreement over and lack of legal process that the future of the the manor and castle at Wressle appears to have created turned more openly violent on 24 August 1453. On this day Sir Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, assembled a force of at least 710 men at Heworth. They lay in wait to ambush the Neville’s as they returned from the marriage of Sir Thomas Neville to Maud Stanhope, Lord Cromwell’s niece.

The Neville family travelling north from Tattershall included not only Sir Thomas and bride, but also the Earl and Countess of Salisbury, along with Sir John Neville. They were accompanied by a retinue which was essentially a well armed bodyguard.

Lord Egremont’s ambush failed to capture or kill any of the Neville family: and the exact objective of Egremont’s actions are unknown. There is no remaining record of the nature of the ambush, or of any casualties for either side. We know that the Neville party was able to continue to Sheriff Hutton. We also know that the actions of Lord Egremont resulted in legal processes. A William Buckton was charged specifically with having attempted to kill the Earl of Salisbury. 710 persons are listed in charges relating to the clash at Heworth: all Percy retainers or sympathisers.

See this page for other examples of regional feuds and violence at this time.

Consequences of Heworth Moor

The clash resulted in the above noted legal actions. It also saw renewed attempts by the Crown to seek a resolution to the Percy-Neville feud. On 8 October letters from ‘the king’ [in practice from the council or  Duke of York in his capacity as Protector] informed both the Earls of Salisbury and Northumberland that an assembly of liegemen would be appointed to meet at at a future date to settle the matter. It also implied a more forcible intervention from the Crown should the two Earls not bring their offspring under control.

This failed. On 20 October at Topcliffe the Earls of Northumberland formed up at full strength facing one another. This was the first time in the dispute that the heads of the family had chosen to take up arms. They were joined by their sons, including Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick. On this occasion, there was no violence. Arbitration resulted in the two sides withdrawing. The matter did not end though, it continued to be an issue the following year at Stamford Bridge, then in 1455 at the First Battle of St. Albans, and again as violence erupted on a national scale in 1459-61.

Wressle Castle a disputed possession

The Percy attempts to force the issue of restoring Wressle failed in 1453. When Ralph 3rd Baron Cromwell died, the details of his will and inheritance of his estates led to a protracted legal battle. Whereas his 1451 will had been largely in favour of Maud inheriting a half of non entailed lands, a later will was less generous. The legal arguments over inheritance began in 1457 and had not been settled by the time Thomas Neville was killed fighting in the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460.

Following the Yorkist victory in the Battle of Towton it appears that the estate was under the control of Sir John Neville, though not formally held by him. This is evidenced below. The eventual settlement of the various claims to Wressle did not happen until 1471, after the deaths of the Earl of Salisbury, Warwick and John, by then Marquess of Montagu.

Wressle Castle under John Neville, Earl of Northumberland and later Marquess Montagu

In charge of operations against the Lancastrian north Edward had placed the Earl of Warwick and John Neville, who became Lord Montague after Towton and in 1464 the Earl of Northumberland for his further services. It was they whom Hull now courted and assisted, and when the town was next in contact with the Northumberland seat at Wressle Castle it was to reach agreement in 1464 about the misbehaviour of Montague’s men in the port.

‘Medieval Hull’, in A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1, the City of Kingston Upon Hull, ed. K J Allison( London, 1969), Victoria County History via British History Online 

Wressle 1471-89

Following the defeat of the Earl of Warwick and Marquess of Montagu at Barnet in 1471 the route for Wressle to return to the Percy family was far more straight forward. The Neville claim was effectively quashed by their attainders. This left Wressle as one place where Edward IV could reward the reinstated Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland without impacting significantly on the settlement of Neville lands that were passing to his brothers, George and Richard.

Wressle after the Wars of the Roses

Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland inherited Wressle when aged 11. In 1498 he gained full control of his estates. Henry chose to make Wressle a magnificent palace home for the Percy family. This involved some changes to the building itself, along with developing and further landscaping the gardens. This was undertaken in two phases. One from 1498-1516, with additions between 1524 and the Earl’s death in 1527.

The Castle was a mustering point during the Pilgrimage of Grace: for the rebels, one of whose leaders was the Earl’s younger brother. It passed to the Crown upon the 5th Earl’s death at his request. It was granted back to the Percy family in 1557. Little development took place thereafter. The castle met its end as a useful place of residence and defence as a result of the 17th century English Civil Wars. It was garrisoned and held by Parliament. However, when Pontefract Castle was captured by the Royalists, Parliamentary leaders decided to slight Wressle to render it useless.

Wressle Castle Links

Historic England – Official Listing of the site.

Heritage Gateway – Description of the site with a selection of suggested sources.

Gatehouse Gazetteer – Description and suggested sources about the castle.

Castle Studies Trust – Re-imagining Wressle Castle.

Archaeology Data Service – Richardson, S. and Dennison, E. (2015). Garden and Other Earthworks, South of Wressle Castle, Wressle, East Yorkshire: Archaeological Survey. Ed Dennison Archaeological Services Ltd.

 

Featured Image

Wrestle Castle, Yorkshire. By Dupont Circle – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Via Wikimedia.