Harewood Castle
Grade I listed castle in Harewood, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Harewood Castle is a 14th-century stone hall house and courtyard fortress, located on the Harewood Estate, Harewood, in West Yorkshire, England (Grid Reference SE 322457). Harewood Castle is a grade I listed building.
Architecture
The castle is laid out as a keep in a rectangular shape with corner towers.
The main hall is two storeys high, with a three-storey accommodation wing. It is flanked by four angle towers, one being a plain entrance tower; the chapel is situated over the portcullis chamber. The lower kitchen wing is of four storeys, with a barrel-vaulted basement containing the well. The rectangular tower house on a steep slope is visible for miles around.
History
The castle was founded by the De Lisle family in the 12th century, and then passed to Sir William de Aldeburgh, following his marriage to Elizabeth de Lisle, heiress of Harewood, who was granted a licence to crenellate in 1366.
When the second Baron Aldeburgh died in 1391 without issue, the castle transferred to the Ryther and the Redmayne (Redman) families, into which his two daughters had married.
In 1574, James Ryther and partner William Plompton bought out the Redman family, although Ryther's financial situation must have worsened because he died in London's Fleet Prison in 1595.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Harewood Castle” is grade I listed castle in Harewood, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Harewood, Castle and Grade, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “grade I listed castle in Harewood, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5656954. Authority coordinates are 53.906, -1.511. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1366, 1391, 1574 and 1595.
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.
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow Harewood Castle primary sources, Harewood Castle archive and Harewood research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Harewood 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.