Scaleby Castle

Scaleby Castle is a complex of buildings, primarily a castle, dating from the late 13th century. A licence to crenellate was granted in 1307 to Sir Robert de Tylliol, and the castle was largely rebuilt in the 15th century. A wing was added in the late 16th century for Sir Edward Musgrave, altered in the late 17th century for William Gilpin, and remodelled around 1838, likely by Thomas Rickman for the Fawcett family.

The construction uses a variety of materials, including red sandstone from the nearby Roman Wall for the oldest work, with later additions using mixed Roman Wall stone and ashlar, and more recent work in red sandstone ashlar. The roofs are slate, and the chimney stacks are of brick and ashlar. The buildings are arranged in an L-shape, enclosed by a curtain wall that roughly forms a square. An outer moat, now filled, remains, along with a water-filled moat.

The castle includes a ruined four-storey tower house, a three-storey, three-bay great hall to the south, a two-storey polygonal curtain tower projecting to the north-west, a two-storey gatehouse facing north-west that connects to a high curtain wall enclosing a small courtyard, and a south range comprising two phases of building. The tower house is characterized by a thick chamfered plinth and chamfered string courses to each floor, with chamfered lancet windows. The interior retains remains of a vaulted lower chamber, with a newel staircase within the wall thickness. The great hall has a stepped entrance dated 1965. Sash windows with glazing bars, added in the 1680s, demonstrate evidence of filled slit vents. The south range has large stepped angle buttresses; the building to the right, built between 1567 and 1606 on earlier foundations, contains sash windows dating from the 1680s and around 1838, with above-eaves gabled dormers. A circa 1838 building on the left has mullioned casement windows with glazing bars and hood moulds; the ground floor window on the left has been altered into a French window. The end wall features C19 mullioned windows and a quatrefoil window in the gable angle. Coupled battlemented stone chimney stacks rise from the roof. A rear courtyard entrance, dated 1737, bears a cartouche of Richard Gilpin. The rear facade exhibits a mix of sash windows and C19 mullioned windows, featuring square leaded panes. The castle is the birthplace of the Reverend William Gilpin and his brother Sawrey Gilpin.