Timetable
10:00
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
1:00
1:30
2:00
2:30
3:00
3:30
4:00
4:30
5:00
6:00
Site opens (11:00 Sunday)
Medieval life
Drill display
Introduction to the characters
Archery
Lunch
Roleplay Court scene 1
Arms & Armour
Surgeons Talk
Roleplay Court scene 2
Arming of the Knight
Music and dance
Roleplay Court scene 3
Mustering of the (young) troops for drill
Roleplay Final court scene - arrest of the guilty?
Castle closes
Historical background
Thomas Clifford 8th Baron (grandfather of Henry Clifford) accompanied the royal army that confronted
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, at Dartford in 1452, and he supported Henry Percy, Earl of
Northumberland, and his sons in their ongoing quarrel with Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and his sons
in the mid-1450s.
Like Northumberland and Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who were also slain in the fighting,
Thomas Clifford was likely marked as a special enemy and targeted for death by the Yorkist forces.
Clifford’s death at the hands of the Yorkists had an important effect on the Wars of the Roses, for it turned
his son, John Clifford, ninth Lord Clifford, into a staunch supporter of the House of Lancaster and a bitter
personal enemy of York and the Neville family.
John Clifford, 9th Baron, died in 1461 at the battle Towton fighting the Yorkists and his lands were
attainted and given into the keeping of his enemies firstly William Stanley between 1465-1475. Then taken
on by Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester from 1475-1485 who was then married to Anne
Beauchamp Neville and had a son Edward. All the sons of Richard Neville King Maker were dead by this
time probably leaving Richard in control of a lot of the Neville property which was substantial.
The attainder was later lifted and Lord Henry Clifford, 10th Baron and son of Margaret Bromflete regained
control of the castle.
Fictional Background
The year is 1481 Richard Plantagenet has had the living of Skipton Castle and its surrounding lands for
some years. The responsibility of overseeing the general business of the estate for the past couple of years
has been in the hands of one John Hammond, a secretary come to him from his wife’s household originally
a steward in the Neville estates.
Richard has noticed a decrease in the living raised from his properties at Skipton and has ask his friend
William Stanley, former keeper of the property, if he might make a visit there on his way to other business
and see if anything is amiss. John Hammond has ridden ahead to make sure that the castle is made ready to
receive its honoured guests on short notice.
Coincidentally, a few days earlier the family of Sir Lancelot Threlkeld accompanied by their friend Sir
Thomas Percy chose to visit friends in the neighbourhood at the behest of his second wife Margaret
Bromflete, widow of Lord Clifford, and former lady of Skipton Castle. They have brought with them their
grown children and had thought to have a peaceful visit without the intrusion of the Yorkist supporters in
their previous very Lancastrian home town.
Everything had appeared to be fine on the Friday, although there was tension at the Castle which could be
put down to the impending visit. John Hammond had spent his evening at the local Inn doing a little
business and enjoying some entertainment. Stanley’s party, making poor progress, found shelter on the
way to Skipton and set off early on the Saturday morning to arrive at the castle only to come across John
Hammond’s body in woods at the edge of the road.