Snape Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

Snape Castle. Castle now 2 houses. Dating from c1430, mostly reconstructed in the C16 by Sir Thomas Cecil; C18 alterations. Rubblestone and ashlar with lead roofs. Rectangular in plan with a tower at each corner. All but the south side is ruinous. Chapel to south-east. North front: towers almost full height but without floors, the eastern tower has lost almost all parapet and south-west corner of wall. South front: 9 bays, end bays towers, that to left 3 storeys, that to right of 4 storeys and bays 2, 3, 4 and 5 are 2 storeys, bays 6, 7 and 8 are 3 storeys. Bay 5: early C18 round-headed panelled door flanked by pilasters in flat-headed architrave with cornice. Swept shouldered panel above has crest in round architrave and above this an 18- pane sash in architrave with double keystone. Bay 2 breaks forward as an oriel window on 1st floor and has a sash with glazing bars in chamfered surround. Bays 3 and 4 16-pane sashes in chamfered surrounds to ground floor. 24-pane sashes in architraves with cills and double keystones above. Bays 6 and 7 tripartite sashes with chamfered surrounds to ground and 1st floors. 3-light mullion and transom window to 2nd floor of bay 6. Inserted door between bays 6 and 7. Bay 8 breaks forward slightly with C20 half- glazed door and 4-pane sash above. The right tower has a 16-pane sash in chamfered stone surround to ground and 1st floors. 2nd floor has a side- sliding sash in chamfered surround. 3rd floor: moulded band, blind 3-light mullion-and-transom window. Rising out of this bay at corner of east tower is late-C16 clock tower, moulded band below embattled parapet continues across towers. The rear: main range has 2 4-light mullion and transom windows rising through 2 floors representing Sir Thomas Cecil's great chamber. Left return (west): a full height canted bay to west tower. In wall to left of this fragments of a large Elizabethan chimneypiece with caryatids, a central round-headed carriage opening and niche to right with ashlar surround. Right return: chapel projects on right of tower with vaulted stores to north. Connecting north-east tower, having chamfered pointed-arched doorways and chamfered 2-light window openings. Chapel: 2 storeys, 2 bays. Chapel on 1st floor with stores below. Offset diagonal buttress at east (right) end. Chapel has 3-light windows with Perpendicular tracery and 4-centre arches to north, south and east sides, moulded band, embattled parapet. West end of chapel has a 2-storey porch with 4-centre arched board door under hoodmould in north side and steps inside leading to west entrance of chapel. Interior of chapel: ceiling painted by Verrio but completely ruined. Sculpture: C18 oval series of Dutch religious reliefs and 2 C18 statues to east wall, 2 C18 statues to west wall. East tower has a large kitchen fireplace arch to ground floor and a late C16 fireplace to top floor. Main entrance has early C18 open- well staircase with thick turned balusters. 1st floor has late C16 plaster ceiling with Geometrical patterns on thin ribs. Panelling and doors of early C18. Oak spiral stair in clock tower. History: built on the site of an old manor house in 1430 by 1st Lord Latimer of Snape. Occupied in 1483 by Richard III's mother and wife, and from 1532-42 by Catherine Parr wife of 3rd Lord Latimer of Snape before her marriage to Henry VIII. The 4th Lord Latimer's daughter and heir Dorothy married Sir Thomas Cecil of Burghley, Lincolnshire who enlarged the Castle and added the 4 towers 1587. The coat of arms of the Nevilles and Cecils are over the front door. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1004908, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number ny100
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1190147
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 52251.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MNY15588.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Great Castles (photo gallery)
  CastlesFortsBattle.co.uk
Books
- Turner, Maurice, 2004, Yorkshire Castles: Exploring Historic Yorkshire (Otley: Westbury Publishing) p. 83, 247
  Jackson, M.J., 2001, Castles of North Yorkshire (Carlisle) p. 77-8 (plan)
  Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p. 94-5
  Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 1 Northern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 396
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 299
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 526
  Ryder, P.F., 1982 (paperback edn 1992), The Medieval Buildings of Yorkshire (Ash Grove Book) p. 87-107
  Illingworth, J.L., 1938 (republished 1970), Yorkshire's Ruined Castles (Wakefield) p. 143
  Pevsner, N., 1966, Buildings of England: Yorkshire: North Riding (London, Penguin) p. 347-9
  Page, Wm (ed), 1914, VCH Yorkshire: North Riding Vol. 1 p. 348-51 online transcription
  Horsfall, T., 1912, Notes on the Manor of Well and Snape p. 87-101
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 2 p. 266-7 online copy
  Whellan, T., 1857, History and topography of the city of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire (T Whellan and Co) Vol. 2 p. 387 online copy
  Allen, T., 1831, A new and complete history of the county of York Vol. 3 p. 495
  Grose, Francis, 1787, Antiquities of England and Wales (London) Vol. 8 p. 159 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Worsley, G., 1986 March 6, 'Snape Castle, Yorkshire' Country Life Vol. 179 p. 570-75
  1972, The Archaeological Journal Vol. 128 p. 188
  Pritchett, J.P., 1887, 'Works of the Nevilles' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol. 43 p. 232-3 and plan online copy
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 564
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1909, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 4 p. 26 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk Yorkshire Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 22 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk Yorkshire Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 28 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 Yorkshire (London: English Heritage) p. 32 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 Yorkshire (London: English Heritage) p. 32 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 50 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 46 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 45 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 Yorkshire and the Humber (London: English Heritage) p. 55 online copy
  Creighton, O.H., 1998, Castles and Landscapes: An Archaeological Survey of Yorkshire and the East Midlands (PhD Thesis University of Leicester) p. 625 online copy

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