By Mark Foster
10 July 2008
The Northern Echo
THE saying goes that an Englishman?s home is his castle ? and now there is a chance to make that come true. Medieval Crayke Castle, which has a commanding position in North Yorkshire, is for sale. Living in baronial splendour has never come cheap, and owning this particular chunk of British history is likely to set someone back about £3.5m.
But the buyer will get a lot for his money and will be following in the footsteps of kings when he stands beneath the battlements and surveys his domain. The castle dates back to approximately 1450 and was built on Crayke Hill, south-west of the Howardian Hills near Easingwold, by Robert Neville, the then Bishop of Durham. It was a replacement of a ruined motte-and-bailey castle that dated back to the 12th Century.
At least five kings stayed at the Norman castle - John in 1209, 1210 and 1211, Henry II in 1227, Edward I in 1292, Edward II in 1316 and Edward III in 1345. The castle also comes complete with a Dark Ages tale well-known in Scandinavian folklore, because the castle stands on the site where Aella, King of Northumbria, once made his home. He defeated Viking invader Ragnar Lodbrok in battle and took him back to the castle where he is said to have suspended his captive in a dark and dank dungeon above a pit of serpents before lowering him to his death.
Many centuries later the story was given the Hollywood treatment when it featured in the 1958 Kirk Douglas epic The Vikings. The castle is being sold by Kevin Hollinrake, who has lived there with his wife, Nicky, and their four children for four years.
They are moving to West Yorkshire, but will have fond memories of their time as kings of the castle. "You're on the top of the hill, but you have total privacy," he said. "The kids have a wonderful Enid Blyton-type existence here." The castle is being sold through Knight Frank and Hunters, which Mr and Mrs Hollinrake set up in the early Nineties.
What you get The 6.95 acre property includes:
A vaulted medieval kitchen alongside a modern kitchen.
Eight bedrooms.
Five bathrooms.
Four reception rooms.
A self-contained two-bedroom apartment.
A stable block and paddocks.
An orchard, a tennis court, a summerhouse, garaging and woodland.
