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Pickering
The
history focuses particularly on the medieval period Pickering was the law court where many Farndales were tried and punished.
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Introduction
Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines of the history of the
Pickering are in brown.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Contextual history is in purple.
This webpage about the Pickering has the following
section headings:
- The
Farndales and Pickering
- Pickering,
an overview
- Timeline
of Pickering
- Pickering Castle
- Pickering Forest
- Pickering and Poaching
- Links, texts and
books
The Farndales and Pickering
The Farndales
associated with Pickering included Thomas and Richard of Farndale (FAR00023),
excommunicated for stealing at Pickering Castle; Robert of Farndale (FAR00024),
fined for poaching at Pickering Castle in 1332; and John de Farndale (FAR00026),
released from excommunication at Pickering Castle on 9 Apr 1324. For a full
list of the transgressors see the
Farndale Poachers of Pickering Forest.
Others who
were associated with Pickering were Eln Farndale (FAR00068)
who moved across the North Yorks Moors to Pickering; Richard Farndale (FAR00234)(see the Pickering Line); William
Farndale (FAR00292);
Lucy Farndale (FAR00282);
and Mary Farndale (FAR00298).
Pickering
Pickering is a
market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire on the border of the North York
Moors. It overlooks the Vale of Pickering to the south. Picheringa (eleventh and twelfth century); Pikeringa
(twelfth century cent.); Pikering (twelfth to
sixteenth centuries).
Within
Pickering are Pickering Parish Church, with medieval wall paintings; Pickering
Castle; and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
Pickering Timeline
Prehistory
Positioned on the shores of a glacial lake
at the end of the last ice age, Pickering was in an ideal place for early
settlers to benefit from the multiple natural resources of the moorlands to the
north, the wetlands to the south, running water in the beck and the forests all
around. It had wood, stone, wildfowl, game, fish, fresh water and fertile
easily worked soils. The east–west route from the coast passed along the
foothills of the North York Moors through the site at a place where the beck
could be forded.
Many remains of the Neolithic, Bronze
and Iron Ages have been found at Pickering.
Roman and Anglo
Saxon Period
There is evidence of Celtic and Roman
era habitation in the areas surrounding Pickering but
little remains in the town. Legendary sources suggest an early date for the
establishment of a town but traces of earlier
settlements have been erased by subsequent development.
The town probably existed throughout the
Anglo-Saxon period of British history.
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Pickering, 1923: The market town of Pickering is built
along part of the road from Scarborough to Helmsley. According to legend the
British prince Peredurus in 270–61 b.c. built 'the Towne of Pickering in the North parts of Yorkshyre'; but unless Pickering was 'Dic',
the earliest historical mention of the place as opposed to the 'manor' is that
of the visit here of Henry I.
Before the Conquest the important
'manor' of Pickering was held by Earl Morcar.
1069
When William the Conqueror claimed the
crown of England after defeating King Harold and his Saxons at the Battle of
Hastings, the north of the country rose in revolt. William's response was swift
and ferocious; his armies laid waste to the north of England, destroying crops,
razing villages, and decimating the population. It was said that the pall of
smoke rising from the north could be seen in London.
This was William's Harrying of the
North, and it left the land devastated for generations and crushed any hint of
rebellion from the local population.
But William wanted to make sure that the
north stayed under control, and one of the ways he did that was to establish
strongly fortified castles throughout the region.
Pickering Castle was one of these, a
royal castle erected either during the Harrying of the North or shortly after,
probably beginning in 1069. It was erected on a hilltop site overlooking
Pickering Brook, on the main route between Helmsley and Scarborough on the
coast.
No doubt the town will have grown to
service the Norman castle.
1086
According to the Domesday Book there was
enough arable land for 27 ploughs, meadows and
extensive woodlands.
1140
The original church was Anglo Saxon but the present Pickering Parish Church was rebuilt in
about 1140 with later alterations.
1267
In 1267 the
manor, castle and forest of Pickering were given by Henry III to his youngest
son, Edmund, 1st Earl of Lancaster
1598
In 1598 the
streets of Pickering were: East Gate, Hall Garth, Hungate, Birdgate,
Borrowgate (the present Burgate)
and West Gate.
1857
Pickering 1857
Pickering Castle
1068
In early 1068 northern England ignited
into rebellion against William I. To suppress the revolt the Normans embarked
on the 'Harrying of the North', a punitive campaign during the Winter of
1069/70 aimed at destroying all farms and settlements between York and Durham.
After this devastation, William seized huge swathes of territory across
Yorkshire and built castles to secure the newly conquered lands.
1069
Pickering was chosen for one of these
fortifications due to its strategic location with roads running north/south
between Whitby and Malton and east/west between Scarborough and Northallerton.
This made it a key nodal point and accordingly construction of the castle
occurred in late 1069 or early 1070 whilst the Norman campaign was still
underway. Although its primary role was invariably to suppress internal
resistance against the Normans, it also served as an anchor against any Danish
incursion and/or Scottish expansionism. The latter was particularly important
as England and Scotland had yet to settle the matter of ownership of the
Earldom of Northumbria.
The original structure of Pickering
Castle was built by the Normans in 1069 to 1070. Little is known about the
construction of the early castle. It was probably built of earth and timber,
with a mound or motte at the centre. It was raised on the eastern banks of the
Pickering Beck which provided strong natural defences. The motte, which would
have been topped with a wooden palisade, was surrounded by a deep ditch. To the
west, sandwiched between the motte and the slope down to the beck, was the
bailey which would have hosted the Great Hall and ancillary buildings. The
outer bailey was located to the east.
The early building probably comprised a large,
central mound (the motte); the outer palisades (enclosing the bailey) and
internal buildings, particularly the keep on top of the motte. Ditches were
also dug to make assault on the walls difficult. The main purpose of the castle
at this time was to maintain control of the area after the Harrying of the
North.
Construction of the original castle in
about 1069
There are two unusual features to Pickering
Castle. The first is that it has been so little altered in shape since the
original wooden castle was rebuilt in stone. The second unusual feature is the
layout of the site. Most early Norman castles followed a similar motte and
bailey plan, with a timber palisade atop a high mound, or motte. The base of
the motte was surrounded by a large earthwork enclosure, usually with a further
timber palisade on top of the earthen banks. This enclosed area was called the
bailey.
At Pickering the layout is different;
there is not one bailey but two, and the motte with its stone keep stands
between the two. The motte is striking, standing 20 metres high, with a base 60
metres in diameter.
There is no record of what role, if any,
Pickering Castle played during the Anarchy, the civil war between Stephen and
Matilda over the English succession. However, on the other side of Pickering
Beck is an earthwork fortification known as Beacon Hill. Although yet to be
precisely dated, this is generally presumed to be a siege-work dating from this
conflict. The extent and outcome of the siege is unknown.
Significant modifications were made to
Pickering Castle in three distinct phases during the late twelfth and early
thirteenth centuries.
1180
The first of the upgrades was made by
Henry II who replaced the former timber palisade on top of the motte with a
stone shell keep between 1180 and 1187. He also constructed Coleman Tower, a
formidable gateway into the Inner Bailey.
1207
A second phase of construction occurred
between 1207 and 1210 during the reign of King John.
1218
It was the third phase of upgrades that
was the most extensive. This was initiated in 1218 by the government of Henry
III who sought to secure the north after the end of the First Barons' War.
Under the direction of Geoffrey de Nevill, Sheriff of Yorkshire the curtain
walls of both the Inner Bailey and the shell keep were rebuilt and strengthened
although the defences of the Outer Bailey remained in timber. Geoffrey also
made substantial upgrades to Scarborough Castle and York Castle at this time
which, when paired with Pickering, facilitated complete control of Eastern
Yorkshire.
1255
In 1255 responsibility for maintaining
Pickering Castle shifted from the Sheriff of Yorkshire to the King's Justiciar,
Roger Bigod.
1264
He still had control of the castle in
1264 upon the outbreak of the Second Barons' War and prepared Pickering and
Scarborough castles for action.
1265
However the death of Simon de Montfort, the
rebel leader, at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 defused the war and there is no
record of the castle ever being attacked.
1267
Henry III granted Pickering Castle to
his younger son, Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster in 1267.
1296
When he died in 1296 the castle passed
to his son, Thomas whose marriage to Alice de Lacy brought vast estates into
the Earldom of Lancaster.
1314
Thomas used his power and wealth to
challenge Edward II and was key in engineering the downfall of the King's
favourite, Piers Gaveston. Thomas further opposed
Edward when he refused to march north with him on the campaign that ended in
the decisive English defeat at Bannockburn in 1314. The aftermath of that
battle destabilised the north of England as Robert the Bruce of Scotland led his
forces into Cumbria, Northumberland and Yorkshire attempting to force Edward II
to recognise an independent Scotland. This prompted Thomas to make improvements
to Pickering Castle both for defensive purposes and to make it a suitable
residence for himself and his wife.
1321
However, Thomas continued to have a
stormy relationship with the King and entered into
open rebellion against him in 1321 only to be defeated at the Battle of
Boroughbridge in 1322.
1322
Edward II, keen to avenge the harsh
treatment meted out to Piers Gaveston, imprisoned him
at Pontefract Castle and had him executed there in March 1322. Pickering, along
with all other estates of the Earldom of Lancaster, were seized by the Crown.
With war still raging between Edward II
and Robert I (the Bruce) of Scotland, the latter invaded northern England again
in 1322 hoping to bring the English King to terms. Pickering must have been a
tempting target but bribes were paid to the Scots to
leave the castle and town untouched. Nevertheless, Edward II funded upgrades to
Pickering Castle and this included rebuilding the curtain walls of the outer
bailey in stone.
1326
Following the accession of Edward III in
1326, Pickering Castle was restored to the Lancastrian dynasty when Henry,
brother of the executed Earl, was granted the title of Earl of Lancaster. His
son, another Henry, was created Duke of Lancaster and through his daughter,
Blanche, it passed by marriage to Edward III's third surviving son, John of
Gaunt. His own son, Henry Bolingbroke, was exiled by Richard II and later
dispossessed prompting him to invade. Passing by Pickering Castle on his way to
intercept the King, he ultimately forced Richard to abdicate and took the Crown
himself. The newly created Henry IV granted the Duchy of Lancaster to his son,
Henry of Monmouth. When he became Henry V the Duchy reverted to the Crown
albeit run as a separate entity.
Late fifteenth century
The use of the
castle was in decline by the late fifteenth century although it served
periodically as accommodation for royalty who used the adjacent forest for
hunting deer and wild boar. However, the defences were neglected
and it took no part in the Wars of the Roses. By the Tudor period it was being
plundered for its materials and quickly descended into ruin.
1642
Although in no
fit state to be garrisoned during the seventeenth century Civil War, it was
seized by Parliament after the conflict along with the rest of the Duchy of
Lancaster.
1660
It was returned
to Charles II upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 but the castle was
never rebuilt and, with the exception of the chapel,
it remained an abandoned ruin until taken into the care of the Office of Works.
Pickering Forest
Dalby Forest
was once the Royal Hunting Forest of Pickering. The Forestry Commission
purchased land around Low and High Dalby in 1919 from the Duchy of Lancaster
Estate. They began planting trees in 1921.
Pickering
Forest lay to the north of the castle and was reserved for royal hunting.
Special laws applied and penalties for encroaching into the forest or poaching game could be harsh.
In 1298, the income from Pickering
Forest was £21 9s 10 ¼ d from rents for intakes in the forest; £4 9s 4d for
rents of the forest serjeants; £4 for courts of the forest and charges for pigs
in the woods; £2 for dog licences; £15 for meadows and pastures in the deer
hays, laudes and parks; and £2 4d 10 ½ d for
freemen’s work maintaining the outer timber wall. This totalled £49 6s ¾ d. The
total income from all sources including fines was £185 4s 10 ½ d. The present day value would be £ ½ M.
The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 2 Parishes: Pickering, 1923:
In 1086 the woodland belonging to the
'manor' of Pickering was 16 'leagues' long by 4 'leagues' wide, and 'was
co-extensive, if not coterminous, with the soke.' This area afterwards formed
the West Ward of the forest of Pickering, the East Ward being the tract known
before the formation of the honour as the forest of Scalby. The forest of
Pickering thus extended from the River Seven to the sea. It followed the
descent of the honour.
Down to the early 17th century the
following courts were held for the forest: an attachment court, a swainmote three times a year, a justice in eyre court, a court at Owdon on
Whit Monday to give oaths to all 'fee men or forest walker,' a court on St.
Cecilia's Day for receiving presentments in the East Ward, a court at Pickering
on St. William's Day for giving oaths, and a court on St. Thomas's Day for
receiving presentments. Every town throughout Pickering Lythe that had common
in the forest had four sworn 'Bilawemen' 'to make
good orders with the consent of the moste parte of the Towne, and to make no lawe
to punish any faulte wheare
there is anie other lawe to
punish that offence.' They committed their 'paines
and lawes' to writing, and these were generally put in to the court leet at Pickering or else in to some mesne
lord's court leet to be presented and sued.
In 1494–5 the 'king's tenants, burgesses
and inhabitants' of Pickering complained against the foresters in fee, Lionel Percehay of Ryton and Roger
Hastings of Roxby, for breach of these rights. A further privilege, mentioned
in 1651, was that the tenants of Pickering and Newtondale
had the right to dig stone in the common quarries for the repair of their
houses.
Pickering and poaching
Trespassers or
poachers in the Royal Forest of Pickering were hauled back to the castle and
could have their eyes gouged out and their foreheads branded. The royal
officials of the castle were responsible for enforcing just it's over Pickering forest. Their courts would have been held inside
the principle public building of the castle, it's Great Hall. Records of their
proceedings showed that they were most commonly concerned
with charges of poaching and assortment, the clearing of forest for
cultivation. At times several buildings within the castle served as prisons. In
1323 mention is made of a prison in the Coleman tower, and by 1621 another
probably existed in the mill tower.
A prisoner being brought to justice in the New Hall.
The remains of the New Hall today. It was originally built as a
residence for Countres Alice, wife of the Earl of Lancaster.
Punishment for breaking the rules of the
forest was brutal. The King began to find that it was more profitable to impose
fines rather than to mutilate offenders. The royal forest thus became an
additional source of revenue and profit for the King through fines.
Links, texts and books
English
Heritage site Pickering Castle.
Gordon
Home's Pickering: The Evolution of an English Town (1905).