Climbing up past the church, we
enter the cobbled market-place, which wears a rather decayed appearance
in sympathy with the departed magnificence of the great castle of the
Nevilles. It commands a vast view of Wensleydale from the southern
side, in much the same manner as Bolton does from the north; but the
castle buildings are entirely different, for Middleham consists of a
square Norman keep, very massive and lofty, surrounded at a short
distance by a strong wall and other buildings, also of considerable
height, built in the Decorated period, when the Nevilles were in
possession of the stronghold. The Norman keep dates from the year 1190,
when Robert Fitz Randolph, grandson of Ribald, a brother of the Earl of
Richmond, began to build the Castle.
It was, however, in later times, when Middleham had come to the
Nevilles by marriage, that really notable events took place in this
fortress. It was here that Warwick, the 'King-maker,' held Edward IV.
prisoner in 1467, and in Part III. of the play of 'King Henry VI.,'
Scene V. of the fourth act is laid in a park near Middleham Castle.
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