The Northumberland Household Book compiled in the early 16th century provides lots of details about everyday life at Wressle and Leconfield Castles. Leconfield Castle was another of the Percy’s stately defended residences (Leconfield Castle has been discussed in an earlier blog in the context of Henry VIII’s Northern Progress). Dating from a time 100 years before Wressle there are no surviving standing remains of this castle but the moat remains in permanent pasture (see above picture). An intriguing reference is that John Leland refers to a ‘study called Paradise’ in his descriptions of both Wressle and Leconfield Castles, maybe a reference to the respect for learning promoted in the Percy household or maybe of more obscure origin. Whereas Wressle was built with ashlar stone the earlier Leconfield Castle was mostly timber-framed clay walls except for the south façade which was mostly built of brick. The lay-out plan for both properties was similar with ranges of buildings around a central courtyard.
It was at these properties that Henry VIII, queen Catherine Howard and their very considerable entourage decamped during the East Riding sections of the royal Northern Progress of 1541. While in Hull Henry VIII stayed at the De la Pole mansion (later Suffolk Palace – see study of in Articles/Publications section).
The site of Leconfield Castle north of Beverley was not beside a river which may explain the more ‘rustic’ building materials used. This site is on the western fringe of the River Hull floodplain but there is no evidence of a ‘cut’ being dug from the site to the River Hull (a relatively near example of such a project being Beverley Beck, the canalisation of dip-slope tributary of the River Hull dug in the 12th century to convey quality building material to the then Minster building project).