Cawood Castle Cawood Castle is a grade I listed building in Cawood , a village in North Yorkshire , England . The surviving fifteenth - century structures formed part of a fortified medieval palace belonging to the Archbishops of York , which was dismantled in the aftermath of the English Civil War . History . The Saxon King Athelstan probably built the first fortification at Cawood on the site of the present castle ruins . Cawood became an archiespiscopal residence by the twelfth century . The castle ' s presence was first mentioned in 1181 before being converted into a quadrangular castle during 1374 and 1388 . It was visited by many kings , including King John , who hunted game in nearby Bishop ' s Wood in the 13th century . Documents show that the palace was often improved . Among these improvements was the gatehouse , which was constructed by Archbishop John Kemp . It was constructed with stone from Huddlestone quarry near Tadcaster which supplied stone for York Minster . George Neville became Archbishop of York in 1465 and held a feast at the castle . The Earl of Warwick , the Archbishop ' s brother , aided in the preparation of the feast and is said to have wanted a feast larger than the King ' s coronation feast . Guests included the Duke of Gloucester , the King ' s brother . The feast lasted several days and became known as the " " Great Feast of Cawood " " due to the size of it . Records from the feast show that a substantial quantity of food was consumed , including 104 oxen , 6 wild bulls , 400 swans , 1000 capon s and 104 peacock s ; 25 , 000 gallons of wine were consumed with the meal . The castle was the main residence of Thomas Savage while he was Archbishop of York , and he died at Cawood Castle in September 1507 . Cardinal Wolsey came to Cawood as Archbishop of York in 1530 and made himself popular with the villagers by putting right years of neglect . However , before he was installed as Archbishop in York , the Earl of Northumberland arrested him on charges of high treason ; Wolsey fell ill at Leicester on his way to London , and died . He therefore fulfilled Mother Shipton ' s prophecy , that he would see the towers of York Minster but would never be enthroned there . In 1642 , the English Civil War began and the castle was initially held by the Royalists . The castle was captured by the Parliamentarians , however the Earl of Newcastle briefly recaptured it for the Royalists in 1644 . Shortly after , however , Lord Fairfax recaptured it and it was used as a prisoner of war camp . Once the war ended the castle was abandoned and destroyed , with only the farm buildings and parts of the wall remaining . The cellar was filled in with rubble and soil . Current status . The only remaining parts of the castle are the gatehouse and the banqueting hall . Stones from the destroyed castle were used in the construction of surrounding houses . The foundations of some other structures do remain as well as the castle ' s cellar which was excavated in the 19th century . The gatehouse served as a courthouse until the 1930s before being used as an officers ' mess and a building for the Home Guard during World War II . The castle is now in the ownership of the Landmark Trust which has restored the gatehouse as a holiday home . However , the banqueting hall still has no lighting . Outside the banqueting hall can be seen remains of other structures - there were more modern farm buildings and a wall along the road , which were removed when the Landmark Trust took over the Castle and restored it . The Castle Garth was bought by the parish council in the 1980s in order to keep it as an open space in the heart of the village . The garth is home to a population of Great Crested Newts : at its centre is a pond , built as a skating pond in the 19th century . There are also remains of the medieval fish ponds . The area has been enhanced with funding from the Local Heritage Initiative , a small grants scheme launched in 2000 to help communities bring their local heritage to life .