Editing Middleham (section)

==History==
[[File:MiddlehamCJW.jpg|thumb|left|[[Middleham Castle]]]]
Though there is no evidence of civil settlement in the Roman period, a rural villa was discovered in the 19th century some {{convert|300|m|yd|order=flip}} east of the castle, in farmland south of the road to [[Masham]]. A branch road from the major Roman thoroughfare of [[A1 road (Great Britain)|Dere Street]] passed by, across the valley, through the fort of Wensley to the Roman site of Virosidium at [[Bainbridge, North Yorkshire|Bainbridge]].<ref name="home.cogeco.ca">{{PastScape |mnumber=50870 |accessdate=14 September 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Normancastlemiddleham.JPG|thumb|William's Hill is the remaining earthworks of the Motte-and-Bailey Castle Alan Rufus built.]]
Before the [[Norman Conquest]], the lands around were controlled by Gilpatrick. In 1069, [[William the Conqueror]] granted them to his Breton cousin [[Alan Rufus]], who built a wooden [[motte-and-bailey]] castle above the town. By the time of the 1086 Domesday Book, Alan had passed the castle to his brother Ribald. Its earthworks are still visible at William's Hill. Alan also built the [[Richmond Castle|castle]] at [[Richmond, North Yorkshire|Richmond]].

Construction began in 1190 of [[Middleham Castle]], which still dominates the town. The [[House of Neville|Neville]]s, Earls of Westmorland, acquired it through marriage to a female descendant of Ribald in the 13th century. It has been dubbed the "Windsor of the North". The castle belonged to [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick]], when his cousin Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future [[Richard III of England|Richard III]]) came there to learn knighthood skills in 1462. During the [[Wars of the Roses]], both [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] and [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] were held prisoner there. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became master of the castle in 1471 after Warwick's death at the [[Battle of Barnet]]. He used it as his political base for ruling the North on behalf of his brother Edward IV. Richard married Warwick's daughter, [[Anne Neville]], in 1472. Middleham Castle is where their son [[Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales|Edward]] was born in about 1473 and died in April 1484. Richard III, who died in August 1485 at the [[Battle of Bosworth]], was the last reigning King of England to perish in battle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.middlehamonline.com/Middleham%20Castle.htm |title=Middleham Castle |work=middlehamonline.com |access-date=13 December 2014 |archive-date=30 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130170503/http://www.middlehamonline.com/Middleham%20Castle.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Middleham fountain - geograph.org.uk - 347626.jpg|thumb|Middleham fountain]]
Under Richard III, Middleham was a bustling market town and political centre.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weaver |first1=John |title=Middleham Castle |date=1993 |publisher=English Heritage |location=London |isbn=1-85074-409-2 |page=31}}</ref> In 1389, the Lord of Middleham Manor received a crown grant to hold a weekly market and yearly fair on the feast of St [[Alkelda]] the Virgin.<ref>Chart. R. 11–13 Ric. II, m. 21; cf. Cal. Pat. 1436–1441.</ref> The town has market places: the larger, lower one is dominated by a medieval cross, topped by a modern iron cross in Celtic style. The upper or swine market centres on the remains of a 15th-century market cross and a line of steps. At one end of the cross is a worn effigy of an animal reclining; the other may have had a moulded capital.
[[File:Middleham Old School House - geograph.org.uk - 346197.jpg|thumb|The Old School House]]
Most buildings in old parts of Middleham predate 1600. The old rectory incorporates some medieval features.<ref name="ReferenceA">''A History of the County of York North Riding'': Volume 1, William Page, ed., 1914.</ref> In 1607 Middleham was important enough to house a royal court for residents of the forest of Wensleydale.<ref>Exch. Dep. Mich. 5 Jas. I, no. 8. The earliest lords claimed the forest of Wensleydale by inheritance (Pipe R. 4 John [Yorks.]; Abbrev. Plac. [Rec. Com.], 74; Coram Rege R. Mich. 12 Hen. III).</ref> Middleham and surrounding lands were part of the Crown estates from the accession of Richard III until [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] sold the manor to the [[City of London]] in about 1628.<ref>Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxiii, Roll B.; Cal. Com. for Comp. 2444; Exch. Dep. East. 13 Chas. II, no. 15.</ref> In 1661 the City of London sold Middleham Manor on to Thomas Wood of Littleton. It has remained in private hands since then.<ref>N. and Q. September 1884; Whitaker, ''Richmondshire''.</ref> In 1915 the annual livestock market was still regionally important, but the weekly market had been discontinued. Today's livestock market is in [[Leyburn]].