Bolton Castle & Queen of Scots

A tour of a castle is one good way of learning about the living condition and the intrigues of the nobles of England's past centuries.

Bolton Castle in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire which was built in the 14th century by Richard le Scrope is one castle that was never sold and is still owned by the descendants of the Scrope family.

This castle was once used for six months in 1568 for the house arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots. During this period, the owner, Henry Scrope offered his own apartments (his own bedroom as well as his wife's) for the residence of Mary. The entourage of Mary included 51 people comprising knights, servants and ladies-in-waiting. Her household included cooks, grooms, hairdresser, embroiderer, pharmacist, medical doctor and surgeon.

Mary had a tragic end when her rival who was also her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I signed her death warrant on 1 February 1587 after Mary was convicted of orchestrating the assassination of Elizabeth. Mary was finally beheaded on 8 February 1587.

However, in history, there are incidences when verdict of a case could be changed by subsequent events. The "crime" of a bad guy could be reversed and be turned into something that is not so bad after all.

Today, both the remains of Mary and Elizabeth are interred in Westminster Abbey. History is also kinder to Mary. Her is a case of tragic failure. She was unable to cope with the demand placed on her at that time and was deemed a victim of  the scheming noblemen. This sounds very familiar even in today's politics!

Bedchamber used by the Lady of the Castle was used by Mary during her house arrest. It was said that man servants or lady maids would have slept in the same room with their masters or mistresses as people did not like to sleep alone. Only the most important person in the room could sleep on a bed. The rest of the people would have to sleep on mattresses next to the fire or simply on the floor wrapped in blankets.

Bedchamber of the Master of the Castle is one floor above the Lady's bedchamber - it is the penthouse in today's residential condo.

The small room next to the chapel is reserved for the Abbot. Its size and setting suggests that Abbot's life was simple and lonely.

The dungeon is where prisoners are kept. This is normally cold, dark pit hewed out of solid rock.  The size is 4m x 3m x 3.5m high. The only amenity offered to the prisoner was the loo. Prisoners are lowered down into the chamber with rope and then simply left to their fate. A story that was told that a piece of an arm bone had been found manacled to one side of the walls seems to support this assertion.

Castle residents drew water from the well dug at one corner of the castle.

We did not have the chance to get "lost" in the labyrinth outside the castle because it was raining at the time of our visit.