Built in the 1120s, the castle served as the principal residence of Walter Espec until his death in 1154. Without a direct heir, the Espec estates fell to his sister’s husband, Peter de Roos and remained in the De Roos family until the 17th century.
In the period following 1186, Helmsley Castle was rebuilt, increasing the domestic accommodations available and strengthening the defences. This rebuilding was presided over by Robert or Fursan, great-grandson of Peter de Roos. Married to an illegitimate daughter of William of Scotland, Fursan enjoyed great power and privilege. As well as an enforcer of the Magna Carta (1215), Fursan was a Knight Templar and was buried in London’s Temple Church.
Successive generations of the De Roos family substantially improved the Castle’s defences. In domestic terms, also, the Castle underwent significant alterations, with a new chapel added in the 13th century and new hall, kitchen, servery, brewhouse, bakehouse and apartments added in the 14th century. These latter, perhaps, preparing for a visit from Edward III in 1334.
Helmsley Castle and the Wars of the Roses
In 1461, Thomas De Roos was attainted for treason for supporting the Lancastrian cause during the Wars of the Roses. Helmsley Castle passed to the Crown and then into the hands of George, Duke of Clarence and, upon his death, to his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard III).
Following Richard’s defeat and death at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Helmsley was restored to Edmund De Roos. His death, without a direct heir in 1508, saw his estates pass to his nephew, Sir George Manners of Etal. His son, Thomas, inherited in 1513, and was rewarded for services to the Crown with the earldom of Rutland in 1525.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
Thomas Manners was a staunch supporter of the Tudors, and assisted with the dissolution of the monasteries during the 1530s, removing the incumbent abbot of neighbouring Rievaulx Abbey. Thomas’ grandson embarked on a programme of rebuilding, turning the medieval castle into a Tudor mansion by 1582.
Helmsley Castle During the English Civil War
In 1632, the estates passed, through Katherine Manners, Duchess of Buckingham to her son, George Villiers. During the English Civil War, Helmsley was held for the Royalists. The Castle was besieged by the Parliamentarians from September 1644, in the first and last test of its military might. Unsuccessful attempts to raise the siege concluded in the surrender of the governor in November 1644, due to food shortages.
In keeping with the policy of ‘slighting’ Royalist strongholds, Sir Thomas Fairfax, leader of the Parliamentary forces, partially dismantled the curtain walls and towers and destroyed the east tower, although the mansion house was spared.
In 1650, the Castle was granted to Fairfax in perpetuity. The marriage of his only daughter to George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who had returned from his self-imposed exile after the defeat of Charles I, saw Helmsley return to the De Roos descendants. Renowned as one of the most profligate of the Restoration court, Buckingham retired to his death at Helmsley in 1687. Leaving no heirs, the estate was sold to pay off Buckingham’s debts.
Helmsley Castle’s Later History
Purchased in 1695 by a London banker and, later, Mayor, Charles Duncombe, it passed to his brother-in-law, Thomas Browne, in 1711. Browne assumed the Duncombe name and resided in Yorkshire. Finding Helmsley uncomfortable, he established the impressive Duncombe Park country house.
Ruined, the Castle passed into State ownership in 1923, before being assumed by English Heritage in 1984.
Sources:
C. Peers - Helmsley Castle, North Yorkshire Ancient Monuments and Historic Buidlings (HMSO, 1974)
Helmsley Castle, English Heritage Guidebook, London, 2004
