29t flCKEIUNG. 



is circular, which is the only one of that description 

 in this district ; which, together with its being on 

 a round and elevated mount, proves it to be on the 

 early Norman plan. In the western wall of the a- 

 rea of the castle is a curious saxon arch, in a place 

 R here there has been a postern gate : this also in- 

 dicates the antiquity of the building. It has been 

 conjectured that the castle was erected by William 

 Rufus, or his successor, Henry I, ; for Pickering 

 was one of those manors which the Conqueror re- 

 tained in his own hands ; and it remained in the 

 possession of the crown for many ages : it was 

 crown property when Henry I. granted his charter 

 for founding the hermitage in Godeland : and as a 

 charter of king John, granted to the nuns of Wyke- 

 ham, was dated at Pickering, Feb. 1, 1201, the cas- 

 tle appears to have been erected prior to his reign, 

 and to have been occasionally a royal residence.* 

 In the time of Edward the confessor, Pickering was 

 the lordship of Morcar, earl of Northumberland. 

 Henry III., in the 33 year of his reign, constituted 

 William lord D'Acre, sheriff of Yorkshire, and as- 

 signed to him the custody of Pickering castle : it 

 was 7 years afterwards committed to the care of 

 William Latimer, after which that king gave it with 

 the lordship to his son Edmund; and accordingly 

 at his death it was reckoned amongst the other 

 estates of that prince, by the names of the manor, 

 castle, and forests, of Pickering. He obtained in 

 the 19 of Edward I., a charter for a fair every year, 



* History of Whitby. 



