Crazy
Castle was the common name for old Skelton
Castle, the edifice which predated
the current structure of this name a little to the north-west of the town of Skelton-in-Cleveland. The above etching seems to be the only
surviving image of this mysterious place – itself a rather fanciful (and
possibly inaccurate) attempt at recording its image for posterity. It probably
acquired its nickname due to its ramshackle look as it fell into disrepair in
its final years.
The land thereabouts was granted
to the de Brus (Bruce) family in the years after the Norman Conquest, and a
castle was soon built. Added to and altered many times over the years, and
passing between various families, it seems to have spent much of 14th-18th
centuries slowly disintegrating, until it was unceremoniously flattened in 1788.
At which point I shall let The History & Antiquities of Cleveland
by John Walker Ord (1846) take over the story…
Skelton Castle — Of this old baronial fortress of De Brus and Fauconberg we know
little even by tradition. No traces now remain of the frowning keeps and
dungeons, the embattled towers, the huge portcullis, the aspiring pinnacles,
the graceful terraces, nor even of that “fair sumptuous chapel, one of the
jewels of the kingdom,” to which the Lord de Piercy led every Christmas-day the
fair Lady de Brus. It has stood on a considerable eminence, surmounted by
beautiful woods both above and below, and defended by impassable moats and
impregnable outworks and embankments, abundant traces of which are extant to
this day. The views to the west and north are diverse and commanding, and
embrace, among other objects, the lovely retreats of Upleatham, with a brief
glimpse of the Tees’ mouth and the sea. The drawing of the old
castle is supplied by a clergyman of the West Riding, who writes:— “The
enclosed sketch represents the castle at that period, and, it is supposed, for
three centuries previous. The old castle, built about 1140, was a beautiful
specimen of antiquity and of picturesque loveliness, being nearly surrounded by
a deep glen, finely wooded. In 1788 the grandson of John Hall, who assumed the
name of Wharton, commenced the work of destruction, and, at an enormous
expense, contrived to flood the glen, demolish the terraces, pull down every
remnant of Norman antiquity, including a magnificent tower; and has left behind
him the most extraordinary specimen of folly and bad taste to be found in the
whole country.”
Extract from the same letter:— “I have no doubt but that the round
tower in the sketch, which had been converted into a pigeon-cote, and the large
square tower introduced in the sketch, were there before the Conquest*; and I well remember viewing their
destruction with tears in my eyes. The
person he employed, and who urged him on to the work of destruction, was a Mr.
Mickle, whom I afterwards met at Farnley Hall, and let him feel the lash of my
tongue for the mischief he had done in my native vale.”
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