page_title: Bowes Castle
section_title: 13th – 14th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Bowes Castle / History / 13th – 14th centuries
caption_attribution_description: English: Engraving of Bowes Castle, 1785
context_page_description: Bowes Castle is a medieval castle in the village of Bowes in County Durham, England. Built within the perimeter of the former Roman fort of Lavatrae, on the Roman road that is now the A66, the early timber castle on the site was replaced by a more substantial stone structure between 1170 and 1174 on the orders of Henry II. A planned village was built alongside the castle. Bowes Castle withstood Scottish attack during the Great Revolt of 1173–74 but was successfully looted by rebels in 1322. The castle went into decline and was largely dismantled after the English Civil War. The ruins are now owned by English Heritage and run as a tourist attraction. There is free admission during daylight hours.
context_section_description: Henry II was successful in quelling the Great Revolt, capturing William the Lion at the Second Battle of Alnwick and imprisoning him until a peace treaty was agreed, extending Henry's authority north into Scotland. In the subsequent years the security situation in the north of England improved significantly. King John gave control of Bowes Castle to Robert de Vieuxpont, an important administrator in the north, in 1203 and he retained control of the fortification until 1228. John stayed there himself in 1206 and in 1212, and the castle was also used briefly to hold John's niece Eleanor of Brittany, who had been placed under the custody of Vieuxpont. Henry III granted it briefly to William de Blockley and Gilbert de Kirketon, until it was given to Duke Peter of Brittany in 1232, and then to William de Valence. In 1241 Peter II, the Count of Savoy was made the Earl of Richmond and was then given Bowes by the king.
  The castle remained in the hands of the Earls of Richmond until 1322, by when it was in a poor state of repair. Edward II then gave Bowes Castle to John de Scargill instead; the local tenants of the Earl of Richmond rebelled and attacked the castle. The lord of the castle was away at the time, and the attackers burnt part of a hall, drank four tuns of wine and stole armour, springalds and other goods. Conflict with Scotland led to further raids against the castle and the surrounding manor; the neighbouring fields were abandoned as a result and by 1340 the castle was in ruins and the manor worth nothing.
caption: Ruins of Bowes Castle depicted in 1785. The first-floor entrance arch is visible at centre; the steps leading to it have gone.
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