Pickering Castle

Pickering Castle stands on a low ridge above the market town of Pickering, on the southern edge of the North York Moors. Founded by William the Conqueror around 1070 as a timber motte-and-bailey, it was rebuilt in stone over the following two centuries to become a favourite royal hunting lodge for medieval English kings, who used it as a base for the chase across the Forest of Pickering.

Today the castle is in the care of English Heritage and survives as an unusually complete example of its type. Visitors can climb the steps to the top of the motte for sweeping views across the town and the moors beyond, and walk the curtain walls linking surviving towers including the Coleman Tower, the Mill Tower and the Diate Hill Tower. The inner and outer baileys retain the foundations of the great hall, chapel and chambers, and information panels chart the castle's connections with monarchs from Henry II to Richard II, who was briefly imprisoned here.

The castle sits within easy walking distance of Pickering railway station, the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, making it a natural pairing with a heritage steam journey through Newton Dale.