Bowes Castle is in the village of Bowes

Bowes

Bowes is a village in County Durham, England. Located in the Pennine hills, it is situated close to Barnard Castle. It is built around the medieval Bowes Castle.-Civic history:...

 in County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 . Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire

North Riding of Yorkshire

The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...

.

It was built in the corner of an old Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 fort guarding the Stainforth Pass through the Pennines

Pennines

The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...

. Around 1136, Alan, Count of Brittany

Alan de Bretagne, 1st Earl of Richmond

Alan of Penthièvre of Brittany, 1st Earl of Cornwall, 1st Earl of Richmond , Breton Alan Penteur, also known as "Alan the Black", was a Breton noble who fought for Stephen of England...

, built a castle in the north-west corner of the site. After the death of Alan's son, Earl Conan the Little

Conan IV, Duke of Brittany

Conan IV of Penthièvre , called "the Young", was duke of Brittany, from 1156 to his death. He was son of Alan the Black, 1st Earl of Richmond and Bertha of Brittany. He was his mother's heir as Duke Conan III...

, ownership of the castle passed to the crown. King Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

 built a massive stone keep

Keep

A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...

. Most of the work was carried out between 1171 and 1174, including repairs that were made following an attack by King William I of Scotland in 1173. Around 1216 enemies of King John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

 again besieged

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

the castle and it was further besieged in 1322 in a regional feud between Henry Fitzhugh and the then Earl of Richmond. After that the castle fell into ruin and the crumbling remains of Henry's keep are all that are now left.

External links

• Bowes Castle, English Heritage