Share Our World: Barnard Castle

For @bil.prag's Show off Saturday for @photogames it is Urban Exploration (abandoned buildings and locations)

Right away I thought of Barnard Castle which has been abandoned for just about 400 years!

It has been quite some time since I have posted in the Architecture and Design community so this post is going to be my entry for Photogames and a highlight of this very interesting castle in Northern England for the Architecture and Design community.

Barnard Castle is located in the city of Barnard Castle, England. The first part of the castle was started in around 1095 by the Balliol family. Then in 1125 Barnard de Balliol extended the castle. In 1216 the castle was besieged by the King of Scotland. In the 1400's it was one of the favorite residence of King Richard III of England. It has a long history of passing ownership.

In the 1626 the castle was sold to to the Van family and was abandoned when he went to live at Ruby Castle.

The castle sits up high on the hill over the river Tees. Here is a view of the town from the castle.

I visited with my brother and sister on a Sunday morning so we walked around the outer grounds. It is open to the public and would be nice to explore it more.

We were in Northern England on a family history tour visiting the places our ancestors lived. My mom's side of the family is from Middleton-in -Teesdale, which is a about 5 miles from the castle.

The furthest back ancestor that we have records for in Middleton-in-Teesdale is Jane Gibbons Gibson who was born there in 1639. For 383 years my family lived close to this castle... just about the same amount of time that it has been abandoned.

Sources:
Barnard Castle (castle)