Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Sir John de Graham’s Castle

One of the best example of a motte and bailey castle I’ve seen. Unusually square shaped, the depth of the motte can be gauged by the wooden steps built to preserve the slope with the actual castle would have been timber-framed. It would have had commanding views over the Carron Valley, a viewed obscured today by the reservoir and commercial forestry.

But who was Sir John de Graham? He was a loyal supporter of William Wallace and was killed at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 when Wallace was defeated by the English army led by King Edward I. It is thought that Wallace initially escaped to here after the defeat as told in the 15th-century lament, The Wallace, by the poet Blind Harry.

In this sad pickle, Wallace by and by,
Thought it convenient for him now to fly,
Spurr’d up his horse, lamenting still for Graham,
Then to his folks at Carron Water came.





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