The Helmsley Castle
The reasons for Helmsley Castle being built at its location were:
national, because of the Norman’s; regional because of the Saxon
rebellions; and local, to defend the North from the Scots.
In 1066 William the Conqueror arrived in England. He fought in the
battle of Hastings, against the then king Harold. However when William
I defeated Harold, he decided he should be king. When the Saxons found
out about William the Conqueror being King of England the Saxon
population rebelled. The Saxons didn’t like the thought of having a
foreign King, as they wouldn’t understand the English way of life.
Norman’s weren’t in a very strong position after the battle of
Hastings. They didn’t take over London as soon after they arrived in
England, they had problems over his 5000-6000 men and not only that
but they were against 2million hostile Saxons. The Saxon rebellions
were a serious threat to William as they were mainly large rebellions,
and on some occasions the Saxons would be helped by the Vikings or
Scots, they would get Earls to help them fight because they were
experienced when it came to fighting. In nearly every rebellion the
Saxons were often outnumbered, making it hard to defend when a
rebellion took place
The first major rebellion in William I reign occurred 1068. Harold’s
sons led the rebellion. They attacked Bristol after they sailed from
Ireland, but they were defeated and this almost forced William I into
building the first of many castles in Exeter.
The second major rebellions saw rebels defeated from Exeter Castle,
and again Harold’s sons led this rebellion. In 1069 the rebellion was
later named the Harrying of the North. William left commanders in York
and Durham to defend invasions from the Scots. He the built Clifford’s
Tower and Baile Castle. Then the Vikings arrived, but William went
north and defeated them. After this William flattened the North so
people would find it less attractive, and William I thought this would
mean fewer invasions however 20 years later the North was still