Wark Castle: How Big Was It?

The full extent of Wark Castle is not known. The authors of a survey by the former Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) carried out in 1992 suggested that the castle was very large. They hypothesised that the visible remains of the castle formed the Inner and Middle Bailey, and that there was an Outer Bailey which now lies somewhere beneath the modern village to the east.

An analysis of the remains undertaken as part of recording work carried out in 1997 came to a different conclusion. This work suggested that the surviving remains can be made to fit quite closely the plan produced by Rowland Johnson in 1561, indicating that the Castle was quite small in extent

Decide for yourself how big Wark Castle was by reviewing the evidence of the RCHME Survey and the 1997 building recording work. Return to what can be seen today, browse the archive or return to the home page.