Kirby Knowle Castle

Kirby Knowle Castle, Kirby Knowle, United Kingdom, was first erected in the late twelfth century by Roger Lascelles and belongs to the medieval English building tradition.

The original stronghold on the site dates to that late twelfth-century foundation. That early castle stood until it was destroyed by fire in 1568. In the years after the blaze John Constable undertook reconstruction, working to remake the property in the contemporary fashion of his day. Constable died before the rebuilding was finished, and the uncompleted house subsequently fell into decay. A contemporaneous survey recorded that Constable had established a large mansion containing a principal hall, a great chamber, a parlour, a bed chamber and a number of other lodgings and chambers, together with a study, a gallery, a chapel, and service buildings including a kitchen, bakehouse and brew house.

Katherine Constable, daughter of Henry Neville, fifth Earl of Westmorland, died in 1590. Her will lists several personal items, among them a porcelain cup reputed to guard against poisoning, a couch of cloth of gold left to Lord Ogle, and a gold cross set with diamonds bequeathed to her daughter‑in‑law Margaret Dormer, Lady Constable. She specified that, should she die north of the River Trent, she wished to be buried at Halsham beside her husband.

In February 1597 John Ferne carried out a search of the castle and captured Joseph Constable of Upsall together with Francis Wycliffe and Cuthbert Plusgrave. Joseph Constable, who was the stepson of Lady Katherine, was taken to York Castle and imprisoned. Ferne reported that the building contained vaults and secret passages both above and below ground. A small mural closet at Kirby Knowle was later identified in the nineteenth century as a priest hole.

By the mid seventeenth century the Constable family had ceased to occupy the house; the so‑called New Building or New Bigging was noted as being in poor repair in 1652 and had not been occupied by the family since 1644. James Danby purchased the property in 1654 and carried out repairs, adding a new south front and a west wing. The house underwent restoration in 1875. It received statutory protection in 1952 when it was listed at Grade II. Further restoration work took place in the 2010s, and the property was placed on the market in 2024.