England · Partial ruin
Flamborough Castle
Flamborough Castle (the Danish Tower) is the partial ruins of a medieval fortified manor house in Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire. The surviving remains are mainly the lower walls of the main tower and surrounding earthworks, with the site historically containing a hall, parlours, chapel, kitchen and service buildings.
Its prime
1530
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1530
What Flamborough Castle looked like in its prime.
A low, roofless medieval tower of pale rubble masonry stands on a grassy earthen mound; three surviving wall segments rise to roughly 4 metres with an irregular, bulging profile and turf cover on the tops. The stone is pale, knapped/flint-like rubble with bands of larger blocks and a later red-brick arched doorway at ground level. Surrounding are leveled earthworks and a gently sloping lawn toward modern village houses; no battlements survive above the ruined walls.
Its story
The story of Flamborough Castle.
The first fortified manor house at Flamborough was built around 1090 by the Constable family, and a constabularius is mentioned on the site between 1180 and 1193. Its main tower was the Danish Tower, and the building remained in use by the Constables until Sir Robert Constable was executed on 6 July 1537, when the family forfeited Flamborough Castle among thirty-four other manors to the King.
The Constables regained their Flamborough estate from Queen Elizabeth I in 1582 but did not live there, the house by then being in a state of ruin. They sold the castle in 1636, and the Strickland family purchased it in 1656.
When John Leyland visited in 1537 he recorded a tower, a hall, a "great parlour", a "lord's parlour", a chapel, a court house, a mill house and a great barn. Today, alongside the surrounding earthworks, three walls of the Danish Tower survive, standing only some four metres tall.
Step inside
12 places to explore in 1530.
The record describes 12 distinct spots at Flamborough Castle, including 8 interiors: vaulted chamber inside the danish tower, great hall, great parlour and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Flamborough Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1530, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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Clans who held Flamborough Castle.
The families that held Flamborough Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Constable
Built c. 1090 and held by the Constable family until Sir Robert Constable's execution in 1537; the estate was regained in 1582 and sold in 1636.
Strickland
The Strickland family purchased Flamborough Castle in 1656.
