Pickering Castle is a lot like the castles we drew as kids: thick stone outer walls circle the keep, and the whole lot is perched atop a high motte (mound) with great views of the surrounding countryside. Founded by William the Conqueror around 1070, it was added to and altered by later kings, but there's not much of it left.
Pickering Castle
North York Moors National Park
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
17.83 MILES
There are ruined abbeys, and there are picturesque ruined abbeys. And then there's Whitby Abbey, dominating the skyline above the East Cliff like a great…
23.48 MILES
York Minster is the largest medieval cathedral in northern Europe, and one of the world's most beautiful Gothic buildings. Seat of the archbishop of York,…
10.35 MILES
Stately homes may be two a penny in England, but you'll have to try pretty damn hard to find one as breathtakingly stately as Castle Howard, a work of…
23.93 MILES
York's National Railway Museum – the biggest in the world, with more than 100 locomotives – is well presented and crammed with fascinating stuff. It is…
23.72 MILES
Interactive multimedia exhibits aimed at bringing history to life often achieve exactly the opposite, but the much-hyped Jorvik manages to pull it off…
13.85 MILES
In the secluded valley of the River Rye about 3 miles west of Helmsley, amid fields and woods loud with birdsong, stand the magnificent ruins of Rievaulx…
17.66 MILES
This fascinating museum occupies the house of the ship owner with whom Cook began his seafaring career. Highlights include the attic where Cook lodged as…
0.26 MILES
This privately owned railway runs for 18 miles through beautiful countryside from Pickering to Whitby. Lovingly restored steam locos pull period carriages…
Nearby North York Moors National Park attractions
1. North Yorkshire Moors Railway
0.26 MILES
This privately owned railway runs for 18 miles through beautiful countryside from Pickering to Whitby. Lovingly restored steam locos pull period carriages…
6.72 MILES
The largely open-air Ryedale Folk Museum is a constantly expanding collection of North York Moors buildings from different eras, including a medieval…
6.73 MILES
With a scatter of gorgeous stone cottages, a gurgling brook and a flock of sheep grazing contentedly on the village green, Hutton-le-Hole must be a…
10.35 MILES
Stately homes may be two a penny in England, but you'll have to try pretty damn hard to find one as breathtakingly stately as Castle Howard, a work of…
11.64 MILES
The impressive ruins of 12th-century Helmsley Castle are defended by a striking series of deep ditches and banks, to which later rulers added the thick…
11.79 MILES
Helmsley Walled Garden would be just another plant-and-produce centre were it not for its dramatic setting next to Helmsley Castle and its fabulous…
12.1 MILES
On the outskirts of Helmsley lies the superb ornamental landscape of Duncombe Park estate, laid out in 1718 for Thomas Duncombe (whose son would later…
12.28 MILES
The picturesque ruins of Kirkham Priory rise gracefully above the banks of the River Derwent, sporting medieval floor tiles and an impressive 13th-century…