- Pontefract Castle 11th Century
- 1066 - On 14th October 1066, at the Battle of Hastings, Ilbert de Lacy fought alongside William the Conqueror. Ilbert was later granted lands by King William (under the overlordship of Bishop Odo of Bayeux, half-brother of William), for his part in the conquest. When Odo was banished from England by William II in 1088, Ilbert held his lands in Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey as tenant-in-chief, direct of the king. The castle he built at Pontefract was enclosed in a park 8 miles in circumference. After the conquest, Ilbert received over 150 manors in the west of Yorkshire including; Penistone, Thurlstone, Denby, Scissett, Skelmanthorpe, Clayton, Cawthorne, Silkstone, Chevet, Crofton, Snydale, Whitwood, Heath, Altofts, Newlands, Carlton, Methley, East Ardsley, Lofthouse, Middleton, Morley, Batley, Southowram, Elland, Greetland, Heckmondwike, Mirfield, Nether Midgley, Over Midgley, Middleton, Thornhill, Kirkheaton, Highburton [Birton], Deighton, Fixby, Bradley, Huddersfield, Almondbury, Honley and Thong and 10 in Nottinghamshire and 4 in Lincolnshire.
- Pontefract Castle 14th Century
- 1313 - On 14th October 1313, Thomas of Lancaster, lord of Pontefract, was one of the great lords of England who knelt before Edward II in Westminster Hall to receive his grace and pardon for his/their part in Piers Gaveston’s death.
- 1399 - On 14th October 1399, the day after Henry IV was crowned king, the Duchy of Lancaster merged with the Crown. Henry decreed that the Lancastrian inheritance should be held separately from other Crown possessions and descend to male heirs (this separation being confirmed by Edward IV in 1461). Pontefract Castle had been incorporated into the Duchy in 1311.
- Pontefract Castle 17th Century
- 1663 - On 14th October 1663, Colonel John Frescheville wrote to the Marquis of Newcastle after the Stuart restoration:
‘I am commanded by my Lord Duke of Buckingham to give your Lordship this intelligence, that his Grace is now at Pomfrett, with 1500 foot, and 500 horse, which consists of trained bands and volunteers, all but the two troops under my command. Sir George Savill, and the rest of the most considerable persons of this country are here, and the confirmed intelligence both from the west and north of Yorkshire gives assurance that a party of rebels are drawing together, and Skipton is one place of their ren- dezvous, and North Allerton another….’
- Pontefract Castle 19th Century
- 1871 - On 14th October 1871, the Leeds Times reported that “portions of Pontefract Castle are now being restored in the Tudor style of architecture, by order of the Duchy”.
- Sandal Castle 11th Century
- 1066 - On 14th October 1066, the Battle of Hastings was fought between William of Normandy and King Harold. One of William’s most trusted advisers and supporters who fought by his side at Hastings was William de Warenne, the son of Ralph de Warenne and Emma. William, like the de Lacy family at Pontefract, was granted land in recognition of his support. It is possible that the first castle to be built on the newly acquired manor of Wakefield was on Lowe Hill in the now Thornes Park, on the north bank of the Calder. This was a weaker defensive position than the now Sandal Castle. It would have been a timber castle built on a mound 30 feet high without any bailey, now visible. It would have provided a small defensive enclosure whilst the new lord surveyed his lands. This area was excavated in 1953 but provided no dating evidence, and therefore it could have been an 11th century royal castle of modest proportions, or a 12th century castle initially for the lord, but subsequently for a constable, when the castle at Sandal, south of the Calder, was being built.