The New Murrey and Blue blog

My two favourite kings, Richards II and III, get a mention in this article Top 10 castles in England (readersdigest.co.uk). All ten castles are splendidly impressive, but there are so many more, equally splendid and impressive, that are omitted. As witness Arundel above. But if you’re selecting your own top 10 in England, these are the favourites of the Readers Digest writer, Alice Gawthrop.

I’ve picked out two:-

Richard II appears in connection with Beeston Castle in Cheshire:- “….[It] seems to balance precariously on a rocky crag above the Cheshire Plain, and you could be forgiven for thinking it might fall right off….A balancing act surrounded by a 40-acre woodland park, Beeston Castle makes a great day out. Indiana Jones wouldn’t be out of place here—the deep castle well is rumoured to be the hiding place of Richard II’s lost treasure. If you fancy yourself a treasure hunter, don’t miss it!….”

If I thought I stood a snowflake’s chance in Hell of finding that treasure, I’d be there with my trowel and metal detector at the ready, but by now I’m resigned to the fact that even a metal detector would only turn up clay pipes!

Richard III, of course, holds claim to Middleham Castle in the Yorkshire Dales, a place beloved by Ricardians everywhere. Mind you, I’m not sure what is meant by the following: “….Nestled in the Yorkshire Dales, Middleham Castle was the childhood home of Richard III and the prison of his brother Edward IV….”

Was Middleham at any time the place where Edward IV was imprisoned? Or does it mean that Middleham was used by Edward IV to imprison others?

My ignorance on this point is rather glaring, but I own up to it, having always connected Middleham with Richard III and the great Earl of Warwick (another figure I admire from the 15^th century), but not particularly with Edward IV.

My own favourite English castle? Why, Arundel, of course. It’s simply amazing, even if it’s later refurbishment has rather disguised a lot of its original medieval splendour. And my favourite figure connected to it?  Richard Fitzalan, 4th/11th Earl of Arundel – a what-you-see-is-what-you-get man if ever there was one, and singularly lacking in tact. I just can’t help liking him, even though he wasn’t exactly a friend of Richard II.