pontefract castle dungeon tour

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Pontefract Castle

Free entry Family friendly

Family Attraction Landmark or Historical Building Tourist Attraction

Located in the historic market town of Pontefract , from its construction in 1070 to its demise following the Civil Wars, the once-fearsome fortress of Pontefract Castle dominated Yorkshire and beyond, bearing witness to some of England’s most momentous historical events earning itself the name of the Key to the North!

Today, the castle is a place of family-friendly adventure, with wide open spaces to explore and play, and fascinating ruins to investigate. Ignite your imagination as you explore the pathways and take in some of the imposing stonework. Climb to the top of the keep and see the surrounding Yorkshire countryside, and visit the castle gift shop for a colourful range of souvenirs, gifts, books and ice creams.

There’s masses of stuff to occupy families, younger visitors can get creative and test out their soldier skills while having a go at some civil war training activities on information boards around the grounds. You’ll find awesome displays along with some of the fascinating objects found at the castle from centuries gone by.

The children’s playground is the perfect place for young visitors to burn off some energy and create their own castle adventures.

Need refuelling? Stop off at the Castle Coffee Shop for hot and cold drinks and snacks.

Monday – Friday:  8:30am – 4.30pm

Saturday & Sunday:  9:30am – 4.30pm

Play area open 10am-4pm daily

Last entry 30 minutes before closing.

VISITOR CENTRE AND GIFT SHOP:

Monday:  Closed

Tuesday – Sunday:  10am – 4pm

CASTLE COFFEE SHOP:

Monday: Closed

Tuesday – Sunday: 11am – 3pm

Don’t miss the latest from Wakefield Museums and Castles. Sign up to receive their eNewsletter  here .

Venue opening hours

Monday : 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Tuesday : 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Wednesday : 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Thursday : 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Friday : 8:30 am - 4:30 pm

Saturday : 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

Sunday : 9:30 am - 4:30 pm

Access facilities

• Accessible Car Parking
• Accessible Toilet
• Baby Changing Facilities
• Guide Dogs Welcome
• Hearing Aid Loop
• Wheelchair Accessible

Venue Details

Castle Garth, Pontefract, WF8 1QH

01977723440

[email protected]

Venue Facilities

• Cafe on Site
• Dog Friendly
• Free Parking
• Picnic Area

Also at Pontefract Castle

The Castle Coffee Shop at Pontefract Castle

Events at pontefract castle.

Families Heritage Our Year Tour

Pontefract Castle Dungeon Tour

Our Year Talk

Hannah French Talk

Activity Craft Families Food and Drink Our Year Workshop

Heritage for Youth Week

Activity Heritage Our Year

Escape the Dungeon!

Cooking Up History

Activity Craft Heritage Our Year Workshop

Colourful Castle Cloth

Herbs and Health

Activity Families Festival

Summer of Discovery

Activity Craft Heritage Workshop

Colour Chemistry from Nature’s Rainbow

Craft Heritage Our Year Workshop

Museum Meet Up

Activity Families Heritage Our Year Walk

Liquorice Heritage Trail Walk

Heritage Our Year Talk

The Archaeology of Pontefract Castle 

Usurper and King: Henry IV and Pontefract Castle 

Comedy Our Year Performance Theatre

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Activity Heritage Nature & Nurture Our Year

Mindful Mondays

Activity Food and Drink Music Sports

Sunset Yoga at the Castle

Romeo and Juliet

Have a Dabble – Mosaic House Number Plaque

Activity Families Heritage Our Year

Catapult Challenge

Literature Our Year Performance

Chronicles of Culture Launch

Lives and Times of Eminent Prisoners at Pontefract Castle 

Have a Dabble – Soapstone Carving

Have a Dabble – Christmas Apron

Have a Dabble – Evergreen Christmas Wreath

Robert Aske and the Pilgrimage of Grace

The Medieval Herb Garden   - Volunteer Talk

Activity Craft Families

The Big Family Picnic

Making a Medieval Herb Garden

Activity Craft Families Heritage Our Year

Jesters and Juggling

Families Heritage Music

Pontefract Castle Presents…

Knight School

Explosions and Trebuchets

Time Travellers

Craft a Castle

Activity Craft Families Our Year

Ilbert’s Dragon Tales

Activity Adventure Families Heritage Our Year

Witches & Wizards

Pontefract Castle: Dungeon Tour - Saturday, 25th June 2022, 10:45am

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Exploring Castles

Pontefract Castle: History of England’s Most Fearsome Fort

Pontefract Castle, in Yorkshire, England (or Pomfret Castle , as it was known at its time) used to be the most important, and most terrifying castle in the whole of Early Modern England.

However, visitors today would find this unbelievable to understand.

Nowadays, Pontefract is absolutely ruined, and it’s incredibly difficult to visualise this vast castle as it once was.

Nonetheless, this mighty stone castle was a real force to be reckoned with – and had such a feared reputation that it was even mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. It’s undoubtedly the most important castle in the whole of Yorkshire, England, and is well-worth your time for a visit.

Here are six highlights from Pontefract’s long and incredible history.

6. Pontefract Castle has a blood-stained history: of death, decay and dark dungeons

Pontefract Castle has attracted a phenomenal amount of death, decay and misery over the years. As an ominous precursor, the entire place was constructed on an old Anglo-Saxon burial ground.

In addition to this, the castle was the spot of Richard II’s infamous ‘murder’ (see our next point below), and hundreds of soldiers were killed or imprisoned here during the Wars of the Roses.

To add to the general feeling of despair, Pontefract has a huge and oppressive network of dungeons – hollowed out of the bedrock 35 feet below the castle. Prisoners were trapped in the winding, pitch-black pits for weeks at a time, and scratched their names into the walls during their miserable imprisonment.

You can see the prisoner’s names, scratched into the dungeon walls, when you visit the castle today. This is part of the tour to the ‘magazines’ and armour cellars – these cellars were originally the dungeons.

Pontefract was the site of some dark moments in history – in 1311, Edward II gained the upper hand on his own cousin, Thomas Earl of Lancaster, and had him executed in the castle- along with beheading 20 other rebels.

It was in Pontefract too that Richard III condemned Sir Richard Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan and Earl Rivers to execution, as their faction-fighting endangered his rule. These three were killed in 1483 – the same year of the alleged ‘murder’ of the two young princes in the Tower of London.

Other unfortunate events occurred in the castle. It was the place where Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard, began her affair with Thomas Culpepper. Both were eventually beheaded for their ill-advised liaison.

5. And Pontefract Castle was the spot where King Richard II was murdered – which served as inspiration for Shakespeare

King Richard II was certainly held in Pontefract Castle in 1399. We don’t know exactly what happened to him, but most sources think that he was either intentionally neglected until he starved to death; or was cruelly murdered in the dungeons.

A couple of scholars have suggested the dungeon of the Keep to be the spot of his murder- a tiny, pitch-black space seeping with the cold and damp.

Writing in the late 1500s, Shakespeare used Pontefract Castle (at his time, Pomfret Castle) as a setting in two of his history plays, Richard II and Richard III. In Richard II, the King is dragged to Pomfret Castle, where he ruminates on his life when imprisoned in the dungeons – and is killed as the play ends.

In Shakespeare’s Richard III , Rivers is dragged to the castle, and describes it thus:

III.iii.9. O Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison! Fatal and ominous to noble peers! Within the guilty closure of thy walls Richard the Second here was hack’d to death.

Although we don’t know the exact facts about Richard II’s death, the most important point is that Pontefract Castle was notorious – and widely feared – for its bloody reputation.

4. Once a magnificent palace — although that’s hard to imagine today

It’s truly hard to imagine nowadays, but Pontefract Castle was once a magnificent and extravagant palace – the jewel of Yorkshire. Pontefract was a vast stone castle, and it’s thought that it enjoyed the protection of two-outer walled baileys. Effectively, it was a concentric castle design.

Pontefract was also crowned with around 10 internal towers. Some of these towers climbed to vast heights – the King’s Tower and Queen’s Tower were thought to be around 20m high.

Pontefract Castle was equipped for extravagant entertaining.

The kitchen had no less than four fireplaces, a bakery with two ovens, and the scale and an incomparable variety of accommodation in the numerous towers. It would truly have been a castle fit for royalty – it had the considerable distinction of hosting Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Charles I during their time.

3. Pontefract Castle was the last remaining stronghold in the English Civil War – Holding Out for Charles I, even after his execution!

During the Civil War itself, Pontefract Castle was besieged on three different occasions – and fell from Royalist hands to the Parliamentarians, and back again to the Royalists. These battles and sieges were universally hard-fought. Oliver Cromwell described the castle in one of his letters:

“[Pontefract Castle is] well watered; situated on rock in every part of it; and therefore difficult to mine. The walls are very thick and high, with strong towers; and if battered, very difficult to access, by reason of the depth and steepness of the graft.” Oliver Cromwell, writing during the Civil War

One of the strangest moments in Pontefract’s history occurred during 1648. The castle had fallen to the Parliamentarians, but the Royalists, lead by Colonel John Morris, managed to dupe their way into the castle by pretending to be bed-collectors. Distraction complete, they then besieged and overcame the castle. Odd, huh?!

Pontefract Castle was, remarkably, the last castle to surrender to the victorious Parliamentarians at the end of the Civil War.

In fact, the castle remained staunchly Royalist until the war was unquestionably won by the Parliamentarians. Charles I was executed in January 1649, but the castle still held out until March that year, living in hope of some Royalist miracle.

Ever the optimists, the Royalists holding out in the castle declared dead Charles I’s son, Charles II, to be the true King of England – even whilst Oliver Cromwell held power.

2. A Castle Intentionally Destroyed by Parliament (and the will of the locals!)

Oliver Cromwell hated Pontefract Castle, due all the trouble it had caused him during the civil war. Resultantly, he wanted the place destroyed at the first opportunity.

In an odd twist, rather than the Parliamentarians just slighting (intentionally destroying) the castle’s defence, Cromwell placed pressure on the adjacent town of Pontefract.

He asked the townspeople to petition Parliament, begging for the castle to be demolished. That way, he could get the job done properly – and the thing entirely wiped off the face of the earth.

The neighbours were all too pleased to have the castle demolished, as Pontefract Castle had been long-time a magnet for trouble, death and despair. Armies pillaging the castle had generally pillaged the town en route – stealing provisions and assaulting local women – and so the townspeople were more than happy to see the castle destroyed.

Consequently, three days after the castle finally surrendered at the end of the civil war, Parliament set out to destroy the place. The price of destruction was about £800, and men set out systematically dismantling the entire castle over a couple of weeks. The only place to be left would be the Barbican.

1. A Store For Liquorice: Pontefract Castle at the Brink of Historical Extinction

After the destruction of Pontefract Castle in 1648, the ruins decayed over the centuries.

In Victorian times, the castle grounds were bizarrely used to grow liquorice – and parts of the old castle ruins were excavated to become liquorice stores! That’s why modern day Pontefract Cakes have a picture of a castle on them.

In recent history, unhappily, the castle has fallen into even worse repair.

Under a lack-of-care from the cash-strapped local town council, the ailing old castle was plagued by drug-dealers and graffiti artists, transforming one of England’s most important historical sites into a depressed-urban battle-field of assaults, attempted assaults, and even manslaughter on the site. Happily, however, things are looking up.

Pontefract has received grants from English Heritage, local bodies and also the British National Lottery. The aim is to repair, improve and renovate the castle and its visitor centres, making it fit for the 21st century. There’s extensive work now going on, and things are looking rosy for the castle’s continued survival.

Pontefract remains as one of the most interesting of all the castles of England, and would have been one of the most impressive of all stone castles if it had survived intact to this day.

Visiting Pontefract Castle

• About 50,000 people visit Pontefract Castle every year
• The site is now secured at night, but access in the daytimes is free
• There’s a small charge for a quick tour of the dark ammunition cellars
• There is a visitors’ centre with exhibits, information, a gift shop and tea shop.

If you’ve enjoyed reading about Pontefract Castle, I think you’ll also enjoy reading more about Dover Castle , one of England’s most phenomenal fortresses. Or you might like to know more about the other castles in historic York , which is just a short drive from Pontefract.

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Pontefract Castle: History of England's Most Fearsome Fort

10 Captivating Castle Dungeons To Visit In the UK

by Louise Humphries

Last Updated on June 16, 2023

Are you looking for a real castle dungeon to visit in the UK? Look no further because we have listed ten must-visit castle dungeons.

Dungeons are a great way to get kids and teens enthralled in the UK’s history. Their storie make us realise how lucky we are never to endure the hardships of the poor souls who inhabited these spaces.

Every dungeon has a unique and often grim story. From the imposing Tower of London, steeped in centuries of royal intrigue, to the hauntingly beautiful Chillingham Castle with its reputation for ghostly encounters.

Learn about the prisoners who endured the hardships of Edinburgh Castle Vaults and descend into the depths of Warwick Castle’s Castle Dungeon for a theatrical experience like no other.

Read on for the best dungeons in the UK. 

Carlisle Castle Dungeons

Carlisle Castle is a well-preserved medieval fortresses in England, not far from the border with Scotland. It was founded in the 11th century during the reign of William II of England.

The castle has served as a military garrison and prison throughout its history. Some famous prisoners include Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Jacobite leader Lord Lovat.

Today, you can visit the castle ruins, walk the walls, see canons, go inside prison cells with prisoner graffiti carved into the walls and visit the dungeons.

After the Jacobites were defeated in 1746, many prisoners were sent to Carlisle Castle. 90 of the prisoners were kept in the underground dungeon whilst awaiting trial. The conditions were cramped and warm but as the dungeon was damp, moisture accumulated on the walls. With little water, prisoners licked the damp walls to keep alive which must have been a grim and desperate things to do. The imprints of where they licked can still be seen today .

The Castle is also home to a military museum.

Find out more at Carlisle Castle

Warwick Castle Dungeon

If you visit Warwick Castle, you can book the dungeon experience as an extra during your castle visit.

Live actors take you through the dungeon on a scary, humorous and entertaining tour. They depict gruesome tales, stories of torture and other dark events. Visitors are often encouraged to get involved in the action!

The castle dungeons are not recommended for children under 10 years old.

Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire

The ruins of Pontefract Castle include the inner bailey, the gatehouse, parts of the curtain wall and the dungeons.

A tour of the dungeons is bookable online most weekends and only costs a few pounds (the rest of the ruins are free to visit).

The dungeons are very big but the history is fascinating. On a tour, a guide tells you about the fascinating history castle from Norman times, through to Tudor times and the Civil War. Climb down the steep stone steps to an eerie underground space. See where Civil War prioners scratched their names upon the rocks.

Book your dungeon tour online

Edinburgh Castle Vaults

Edinburgh’s amazing castle is well worth a visit. Highlights include the Scottish Crown jewels, the Great Hall and the castle Vaults (aka the dungeons)

The Vaults are a series of underground chambers below Crown Square.  In the 1700s and 1800s hundreds of prisoners of war were held in these dark, cramped spaces. Pirates were also held in this space before they became a prison of war.

Today during a visit to Edinburgh Castle you can see how the vaults looked around 1800 and experience the wretched way of life for the men who lived here.

Find out  more at Edinburgh Castle

Chillingham Castle Dungeon and Torture Chamber, Northumberland

Located in Northumbria, Chillingham Castle has a reputation of being one of the most haunted castles in the UK. It has a torture chamber and a dungeon that visitors can explore.

The dungeon is small and lit only by a small arrow slit in the thick wall. Inside letters have been carved on the chamber wall by desperate prisoners. The conditions for prisoners was nothing short of dreadful.

The torture room is another chilling reminder of the Chillingham’s dark past. Filled with numerous medieval torture devices,it provides a glimpse into the gruesome methods used in the past.

Find out more at Chillingham Castle

Berkeley Castle Dungeon, Gloucestershire

Berkeley Castle is based in Gloucestershire and is well worth a visit, having recently being voted one of the UK’s hidden gems in 2023. (Source: Stroud News )

It is home to a deep dungeon, a 28 foot pit, in the old keep. The carcesses of rotting animals were once thrown in here, along with the odd unfortunate peasant.

Famously King Edward II was imprisoned at Berkeley Castle. For five months he was confined to a windowless room above the dungeon. The stentch must have been awful.

Rumour has it that Edward was brutally murdered by having a hot poker thrust up his anus. However, many historians now discount this account of Edward’s death.

Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

This wonderful castle in beautiful surroundings is located right next to a gorgeous beach.

There is a lot to do and see here including a small dungeon. The gruesome dungeon includes figures of people being tortured which brings the horror to life.

Other highlights include the state rooms, the armoury and the aviation museum which is located in the castle.

Bamburgh Castle is also famous for being the backdrop on many scenes in the Netflix series “The Last Kingdom”. Known as Bebbanburg in the TV series, some of the battles from season 3 were filmed on Bamburgh beach with the castle in the background. Visitors can now embark on a Last Kingdom tour at the castle and see some of the props and costumes from the TV series.

Find out more at Bamburgh Castle

Lancaster Castle Dungeons

Lancaster Castle has a fascinating and varied history. It was originally built as a Roman fortress but over the years has also served as a residence for Royal visitors, a courtroom and a prison. Prisoners have been kept at the castle as early as 12th century until 2011 (it served as a category C prison for male offenders until March 2011).

The Well Tower at the Castle holds three stone-flagged underground dungeons which were used to incarcerate prisoners during medieval times. The Well Tower was built in about 1325 and as it’s name suggests contains two wells. It is also known as the Witches Tower. This is because in 1692 the Pendle Witch Trials took place at Lancaster Castle. The trial was of several individuals accused of witchcraft in the nearby Pendle Hill area. It is thought the accused were held in dungeons at Lancaster Castle before and during their trials. Ten of them were ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death.

Entry to the castle interiors which are open to the public is by guided tour only. On a tour, visitors can see the prison cells, the courtyard, castle interiors, and the Drop Room where the condemned prisoners were led to the gallows.

Please note, at the moment there is work taking place to update the fire alarm in part of the building so the guided tours are limited to 30 minute where you can see external courtyards and one of the prison buildings.

Find out more at Lancaster Castle

Tower of London

The infamous Tower of London is an amazing combination of  medieval castle, armor museum and prison complete with dungeons and torture exhibits.  The Tower of London has 21 towers and many prisoners were kept in there as well as in underground spaces which were often referred to as a dungeon.

On a visit, you can see these undeground spaces as well as where prisoners were held in the tower. At the top of the White Tower, you can find the items used for the beheadings, including actual wooden block , axe and  executioners. The Tower is steeped in history and you can see the site where the beheading of Anne Bolyn took place. Be sure to chat to a Beefeater or go on a Yeoman tour where you can hear more about the gruesome events that took place here. 

Find out more at the Tower of London

Skipton Castle

Skipton Castle is a beautiful, well preserved medieval castle with banqueting room, drawing room, bedrooms, towers, etc and nooks & crannies to explore.

It’s also home to a dungeon which is located beneath the castle’s twin-towered gatehouse. Prisoners were held captive here in complete darkness in damp conditions. Sometimes they were held in leg irons.

Other highlights include a medieval toilet and courtyard with a tree growing in the middle.

Find out more at Skipton Castle

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The History Hit Miscellany of Facts, Figures and Fascinating Finds

Pontefract Castle

Wakefield, England, United Kingdom

Originally a Norman structure, Pontefract castle played an increasingly important role in English Royal history for over 500 years. Today it lies in ruins but has much for visitors to enjoy, including its underground dungeons.

Sarah Roller

24 nov 2020, @sarahroller8.

About Pontefract Castle

Pontefract Castle was a key strategic military stronghold in Northern England which played a crucial role in many of the country’s most bitter conflicts for over five hundred years.

History of Pontefract Castle

The land that now houses the remains of one of the most notorious castles in England was given to Ilbert de Lacy soon after the Norman Conquest of 1066AD. While not always finding themselves on the right side of the various power struggles of the period, the Lacy family by and large remained in residence at Pontefract, if sometimes as tenants of the King rather than owners.

During their tenure they continued to improve the castle, upgrading the original motte and bailey structure with a more permanent and larger military fortress which the famous king Edward I described as the “key to the north”.

One of the most infamous moments in Pontefract Castle’s history came in 1399, when Henry IV, a Lancastrian , used it to imprison and murder the deposed king Richard II . With the accession of the Lancastrians to the throne, Pontefract quickly began to hold a key position in the north of England, growing in size and importance whilst other castles nearby dwindled. Pontefract remained a Lancastrian stronghold during the Wars of the Roses .

Other notable events said to have taken place here include the surrender of the castle to the ‘Pilgrimage of Grace’ rebels – who rose up against Henry VIII – as well as being a setting for the infamous liaisons between Henry’s fifth queen, Catherine Howard, and Thomas Culpeper.

During the English Civil War it was the last Royalist fortress to surrender and underwent numerous sieges until Parliament, more specifically Oliver Cromwell, ordered its demolition following Charles I’s execution.

Pontefract has a history rife with famous prisoners – Richard II, James I of Scotland and Charles Duke of Orleans were all imprisoned at different times in one of the castle’s many dungeons. When Edward II crushed his opposition, Thomas of Lancaster was executed here, and throughout the Wars of the Roses many rebels were put to death at the site.

Pontefract Castle today

Today Pontefract Castle hold but a shadow of its former glory. Parts of the original motte and bailey wall can still be seen, as can remnants of the chapel. Unfortunately nothing remains of the Great Hall except the cellars underneath.

One of the most fascinating aspects for visitors are the so-called ‘Magazine Tours’ which take people underground to view the castle’s notorious cellars and dungeons, as well as the writing and names scratched onto the walls by the unfortunate prisoners.

Recent excavation at the castle has unearthed many English Civil War items, both domestic and military, from helmets and spurs to spoons and combs. They will eventually be house at the Pontefract Museum.

The castle is open daily from April to September. Be sure to leave time to explore the extensive grounds.

Getting to Pontefract Castle

The castle is in the centre of Pontefract – there’s limited parking on site, as well as the public car parks in the town itself. Pontefract has three train stations with connections to Leeds, York, Sheffield and Kings Cross, all of which are walking distance from the castle.

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