Flamborough Castle
castle in Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Flamborough Castle, also known as the Danish Tower, is a Grade II listed Medieval manor house in Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire of which partial ruins survive.
History
The first fortified manor house that existed on the site was built around 1090 by the Constable family, and it is mentioned between 1180 and 1193 when a constabularius existed on the site.
The surviving Farnborough Castle structure was built on the site of an oratory constructed in 1319. Construction began on 12 February 1352 by Marmaduke Constable (c. 1300 – 1378) after he obtained a licence to crenellate from King Edward III on 24 May 1351. The main tower of the Castle was the Danish Tower, and the building was in use by the Constable family until it was abandoned when Sir Robert Constable was executed on 6 July 1537, causing his family to forfeit Flamborough Castle among thirty-four other manors to the King. It was in ruins by c. 1540 until some repairs were carried out in 1543 but the building was largely demolished by c. 1573 when the kitchen was removed.
Although the Constable family were able to regain their Flamborough estate from Queen Elizabeth I in 1582, they did not live there as it was in a state of ruin. They sold the Castle in 1636 and the Strickland family purchased it in 1656. The ruins of Flamborough Castle were then in use as a cattle barn by 1798, and were used as a cattle barn until at least 1892. Stones from the castle were stolen over time to construct later buildings in Flamborough with evidence of lime kilns being built on the site in the form of surviving earthworks.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Flamborough Castle” as castle in Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as castle in Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q26364996. The first chronological checks are 1090, 1180, 1193 and 1319.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Flamborough Castle”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Flamborough Castle primary sources, Flamborough Castle archive and Flamborough research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Flamborough Castle”?
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- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Flamborough Castle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.