1071 ALTHOUGH William, the Duke of Normandy, conquered England in 1066 when he killed King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, the north refused to submit – so he decided to force it, through a campaign of destruction known as “the Harrying of the North”. In 1071, with the north cowed and burned, he gave the land between the Ure and the Tees to Count Alan Rufus, who had led the Breton knights at Hastings and was one of William’s closest friends. The most important settlement in this area had probably been Gilling West, but Count Alan needed to show that he was the new and only power in the land, so he chose to build an overwhelmingly huge castle on a stunning new site overlooking the Swale.
1071 ALTHOUGH William, the Duke of Normandy, conquered England in 1066 when he killed King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, the north refused to submit – so he decided to force it, through a campaign of destruction known as “the Harrying of the North”. In 1071, with the north cowed and burned, he gave the land between the Ure and the Tees to Count Alan Rufus, who had led the Breton knights at Hastings and was one of William’s closest friends. The most important settlement in this area had probably been Gilling West, but Count Alan needed to show that he was the new and only power in the land, so he chose to build an overwhelmingly huge castle on a stunning new site overlooking the Swale.