Pontefract Castle — Attraction in Wakefield

Pontefract (or, Pomfret) Castle is a castle ruin in the town of Pontefract, in West Yorkshire, England. King Richard II is thought to have died there. It was the site of a series of famous sieges during the 17th-century English Civil War. The castle, on a rock to the east of the town above All Saints' Church, was constructed in approximately 1070 by Ilbert de Lacy. on land which had been granted to him by William the Conqueror as a reward for his support during the Norman Conquest. There is, however, evidence of earlier occupation of the site. Initially the castle was a wooden structure which was replaced with stone over time. The Domesday Survey of 1086 recorded "Ilbert's Castle" which probably referred to Pontefract Castle.

Robert de Lacy failed to support King Henry I during his power struggle with his brother, and the King confiscated the castle from the family during the 12th century. Roger de Lacy paid King Richard I 3,000 marks for the Honour of Pontefract, but the King retained possession of the castle. His successor, King John gave Lacy the castle in 1199, the year he ascended the throne. Roger died in 1213 and was succeeded by his eldest son, John. However, the King took possession of Castle Donington and Pontefract Castle. The de Lacys lived in the castle until the early 14th century. It was under the tenure of the de Lacys that the magnificent multilobate donjon was built.

In 1311 the castle passed by marriage to the estates of the House of Lancaster. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (1278–1322) was beheaded outside the castle walls six days after his defeat at the Battle of Boroughbridge, a sentence placed on him by King Edward II himself in the great hall. This resulted in the earl becoming a martyr with his tomb at Pontefract Priory becoming a shrine. It next went to Henry, Duke of Lancaster and subsequently to John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III. He made the castle his personal residence, spending vast amounts of money improving it.

Little survives of what "must have been one of the most impressive castles in Yorkshire" other than parts of the curtain wall and excavated and tidied inner walls. It had inner and outer baileys. Parts of a 12th-century wall and the Piper Tower's postern gate and the foundations of a chapel are the oldest remains. The ruins of the Round Tower or keep are on the 11th-century mound. The Great Gate flanked by 14th-century semi-circular towers had inner and outer barbicans. Chambers excavated into the rock in the inner bailey possibly indicate the site of the old hall and the North Bailey gate is marked by the remains of a rectangular tower.

The castle has several unusual features. The donjon has a rare Quatrefoil design. Other examples of this type of Keep are Clifford's Tower, York and at the Château d'Étampes in France. Pontefract also has an torre albarrana, a fortification almost unknown outside the Iberian Peninsular. Known as the Skillington Tower, the detached tower was attached to the north wall by a bridge. Its purpose was to increase the defender's range of flanking fire.

Wakefield Council, who own the site, commissioned William Anelay Ltd to begin repairs on the castle in September 2015, but work stopped in November 2016 when Anelay went into administration. The Council then engaged Heritage Building & Conservation (North) Ltd, who began work on the site in March 2017. A new visitor centre and cafe were opened in July 2017; but in April 2018 the council announced that they had terminated the contract with HB&C (North) Ltd, as no work had been done since mid-March, and they had not had any reassurances that the work would restart. The council were looking for a new contractor, and hoped that work would restart...

An otherwise lovely attraction marred by the Council's decision to fly a divisive, homophobic and misogynistic flag from its pole.

We're a married gay couple. Can you guess what we don't need in our lives? Rainbow flags and narcissistic pandering to a warped ideology.

Funny how times have changed, isn't it? It used to be the traditional churches that made people feel unwelcome. Now it's the abundance of so-called "progressive", virtue-signalling entities that don't give anyone a chance to get away from their determination to regurgitate their "inclusiveness" at every opportunity.

And yet, in your grand attempts at doing so, you've made others, including us, feel unwelcome.

Bravo.

Edit: Thank you for the typically nonsense response that proves my point. You think that flags represent us? They don't. You think it makes us feel 'welcome' and 'safe'? It doesn't. You think it "represents [my] experiences"? Guess what? It doesn't.

You continue to platform and broadcast a toxic ideology that actively harms gay people--especially young, vulnerable gay people--and flat-out refuse to listen to actual gay people who simply want to get on with their lives and desire to live life free from these influences and the virtue-signalling sycophants who think they're somehow doing anything 'good'.

So who do you think it actually represents? WHAT do you think it actually represents?

You had a choice--you could fly the Union Jack, St George's flag, the beautiful Yorkshire rose flag. Flags that are representative of our country, our county, and our home. Instead, you choose to fly a divisive flag that makes people--the very people you claim to 'support' and 'represent' feel grossly unwelcome.

Regardless, my point is made, and you have done an excellent job of reinforcing it. Individuals don't matter, and whether we agree to it or not, you WILL lump us into alphabet soup categories and fly asinine flags in our name whether we consent to it or...

Today was my first time visiting this amazing castle 🏰 and I am absolutely in love! I was very very impressed it is so well kept and absolute cleanliness of the castle grounds👏! I am absolutely fascinated with medieval history and I love visiting ruins,museums and castles and I have been to a few and I have to say that no others have been this clean and beautiful. It's been amazing for me since it's dog friendly,to get to see and meet so many wonderful dogs 🐕(biiiig animal&dog lover) I also have to say that the fact that it is also a free entry so everyone can enjoy the history and learn more about our country's history and about the castle 🏰 It is also a great place for re-enactment training and for historical battles to re-enact and it has plenty of tables &seats to enjoy a picnic in the sun and a show 😀 also a lovely cafe&food options,you can find toilets on site and once again I must praise the cleanliness of the toilets because I know how hard it is working with public to keep them clean😀 Thank you, to the Pontefract team for everything you all do and absolutely 💯% great...