Cawood Castle - what you see today are the inside of the original gateway, and the banqueting hall - the remainder of the Castle was destroyed after the Civil War, as Cawood had been a stronghold of the Royalists - stones from the Castle found their way into many local houses of the time, including Bank House! Cawood Castle was built on the banks of the tidal River Ouse, as the home of the Archbishops of York. It was visited by many Kings, including King John, who hunted game in nearby Bishop's Wood in the 13th Century; and Henry VIIIth and Catherine Howard.

	The Danish King Athelstane probably built the first fortification at Cawood on the site of the present castle ruins. The Castle was seized by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War. The Earl of Newcastle briefly took it back for the Royalists in 1644, but it was re-taken by Lord Fairfax, and used by the Parliamentarians as a prisoner of war camp. back to home page The gatehouse was built by Archbishop John Kemp with stone from Huddlestone, the same stone was used for York Minster.	The Great Feast of Cawood was held in honour of the enthronement of George Nevill as Archbishop of York in 1466. His brother, the celebrated "Kingmaker", the Earl of Warwick, was a fifteenth century proponent of "one-up-manship", and wanted a bigger feast than that held at the King's coronation. The King's brother, the Duke of Gloucester, was one of many guests, and the feasting went on for several days -the villagers must have lived off the "leftovers" for some considerable time! The feast included: 104 oxen, 6 wild bulls, 1,000 muttons, 304 veals, 304 porks, 400 swans, 2,000 geese, 1,000 capons, 104 peacocks, 400 mallards and teals, 204 cranes, 204 kids, 2,000 chickens, 4,000 pigeons, 4,000 conies (rabbits) as well as 25,000 gallons of wine!
	Cawood Garth at twilight, looking across to Sherburn Street (above). The Castle Garth was bought by the Parish council in order to keep it as an open space in the heart of the vilage. At its centre is a pond, built as a skating pond in the 19th century. There are also remains of medieval fish ponds. (Bishop's Wood) This is what the Castle may have looked like(right) Back to home page	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.
Cawood Castle is now owned by the Landmark Trust, who operate it as a "holiday let". The gatehouse was used as a local court until 1932, during the Second World War it was used as an Officers' Mess, also used by the local Home Guard.	(Back to top)	Books on the history of Cawood include: "History of Sherburn and Cawood", William Wheater; "Cawood - The History of a Yorkshire Village", Michael Bell; "Church, Crown and Commonwealth at Cawood Castle", John Booth; and "The Day War Broke Out", John Booth. (For more village history)

The Castle great hall is believed to have been constructed by Archbishop Henry Bowett in 1467. This photo was taken inside the banqueting hall - not very good quality, I'm afraid, but it is rather dark - no electricity! You can see where the upper floor used to be (Back to home page)	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. Within the last ten years, there were cows grazing in the garth!