The Black Castle

As a large city, Bradford in West Yorkshire was one of the leading contenders of the woollen trade and later industrial revolution, a mix of Georgian, Victorian and modern architecture fills every street of the metropolis in the heart of Yorkshire.

Few people know that long before the industrial revolution, Bradford was the location of a castle, the site is suggested to be on the modern A6181 Westgate road, a large ugly modern structure now stands in its place on the highest point in the city.

There is a blue plaque stating that it was the site of a manor house in the 17th century, yet no mention of the castle? The evidence for the castle I found on several websites, one of which goes into detail about the site.

The suggestion of a castle here isn’t without merit, although in the Domesday book of 1086 Bradford is described as a wasteland, and its worth a mere £4, so why would a castle be built there? It appears the area was granted to Ilbert De Lacey, one of William the Conquerors Lords who came over with him in the invasion of 1066.

Over the years the Black Death and raiding Scots diminished the towns occupants from 600 to 325 in 1379, the marauding Scots may have been the reason a fortress was built at the site, or it may have been a convenient location for a stopping point between lands in the north and those in the south.

The building of a castle would give refuge for those on long marches, it is suggested that John O Gaunt stayed there as did the King Edward II, the proximity of a local hunting ground would have only heightened the desirability of the location.

It is unknown to me what the original name of this castle was but after John of Gaunt passed away in 1399 the local millstone grit walls of the castle became blackened by nearby fires, it began to resemble a forbidding place of tales, people disappearing into its walls and never returning, thus causing fear and superstition among the residents of Bradford.

It wasn’t long before the sight of the castle became too much for the people, they demanded that a church be built on the site, a place of worship and Godliness bringing Christianity back into Bradford, instead of a place of death as the castle had become known.

Although it isn’t known if a church was ever built on the site, by the 1500s the castle was gone, demolished to be replaced by a manor house, such as many fortified sites were destined to become, yet we still know very little about the fortress.

There are a host of unanswered questions regarding its construction, size and ownership throughout the centuries, why were people disappearing within its walls? If this was factual and not based on superstition and fear of the unknown, it appears there was more to the castles occupants than the story tells us.

Other questions I find myself asking are: Is this the correct site? Almost a mile south by south west of the proposed site of Black Castle, we find Upper Castle Street, the alignment of the street is not fitting with the site, I would expect a straighter line for a street/road leading to a castle as we find with many examples across the UK.

Upper Castle Street, although not aligned with the park, is also 1000 yards from Bowling Park which is the site of Bowling Hall, one of (if not) the oldest buildings in Bradford parts of which are said to date back to the 14th Century, the correct period for Black Castle, a coincidence perhaps? Or was this a part of the castle?

At the southern end of Bowling park, between Burras Road and Bowling Cemetery, there is a large expanse of scrubland once known as “ The Roughs”, this is at the top of a hill marked as Goose Hill, viewing this area on Lidar shows a large ditch separating two pieces of land, a familiar looking motte and bailey feature I have seen before at some castle sites, although this isn’t a circular motte like many Norman castle sites it does appear to be defensive in appearance.

This may have just been the site of a quarry as it does have similar features to these too, however the location and height, the large ditch and the dates of the earliest parts of Bowling hall do give us suggestions that this may have been the site of a castle.

Of course it is also possible that the older parts of Bowling Hall were taken from the suggested site on Westgate, it wasn’t unknown for castle stonework to end up in other buildings or boundary walls, but if the castle wasn’t demolished until the 1500s that rules out that theory.

What is known is there may have been a dark forbidding fortress overlooking the small town long before it grew into a city and bloomed into a bustling metropolis, Bradford is now more well known for its museums, culture and countryside, Black Castle has long since been forgotten by many.

Perhaps one day any remnants of the castle will see the light of day once more, like we now see in Sheffield with its magnificent castle remains visible for all to see, no longer hidden beneath the foundations of a modern structure.

Who knows what stories it could tell us, what mysteries could be solved and what we could learn from anything left buried beneath the tarmac and concrete of modern Bradford, perhaps the theory that the castle was at Bowling park could turn up more information, only time will tell and one day we may be able to tell the full story of Bradford’s Black Castle.

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