Hi, I'm Paul, and I love to explore old, abandoned, ruined, and generally interesting historical sites around the UK and beyond. I especially love ruined castles and Roman sites.
Most of my videos are short, but hopefully entertaining and sometimes educational ;-)
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Thanks so much Claudia! I do love Scotland - I've got loads more videos to edit and publish after our last trip. We should definitely catch up on the next one! ❤️
Completely agree with you, it is a total gem of Scotland. One of my favourites I have to say. This was a wonderful explore with you, I very much enjoyed it! I was blown away by the Haliburton additions, that great hall would have been impressive, as are the cellars. Loved it. Thank you again R&R!
Thanks so much! Yes, I agree the Haliburton wing was amazing - that buffet at the end of the hall just fires the imagination, and the cellars were huge, you could imagine the bakehouse being alive with activity. Thanks again for your support! ❤️
They weren’t built to house families. Maybe they were emergency shelters for sailors that werent ablr to return to their home ports due to rough weather?
@@relicsruins There doesn't seem to be space for children's sleeping areas. The size of the fireplaces on the floor would have occupied space little children would have been crawling about, and their sharp corners would have been a potential tripping hazard for careless children. If they were meant to hold children, I would think it was planned for short periods only. A lot of energy was used to build these places, and it would have made sense that a lot of thought would have gone into making the rooms suit what they were intended for.
Thanks so much for watching! That's a great question. I don't have a definitive answer and I suspect the situation changed a lot over time. The monks relied on peasants to farm their land, and in some cases charged rent for the privilege. They would have been prone to poor harvests the same as if they were farming outside of the monastic environment, however the peasants would have benefited from agricultural improvements, education, and community support.
Apparently legend has it there is a tunnel running directly from the ruins of the old church to the castle itself... I personally don't believe it but even people in the village have suggested this to me.. like I said I visit this place regularly.. I tend to Go when there is nobody else about.
Oh, I love stories like that! It would be great if there was some proper archaeology and preservation of the site, I'm sure there is still so much to learn.
@@relicsruins I actually know there was archaeology done as I know the owner.. but unfortunately the last time I spoke with him was some years ago Toby Horton. I actually read through the full archaeology that had been done on the castle but sadly not the church.. I'm not sure whether I still even have a copy hidden away somewhere.. but there has been lots of archaeology done on whorlton castle and gatehouse but unfortunately it's only a grade 2 listed building.. I know the last time I spoke with the owner they were trying to revamp it into a house.. I'm talking about the gatehouse here in order to preserve it from the thugs.. I still travel up to the castle on a regular basis as it is a place I go to reflect . Unfortunately once it gets dark you get surrounded by idiots.. I don't know the last time that you actually went to the castle? Unfortunately it is overgrown I believe the west wall is leaning a lot more than it was.. I actually did take over voluntary security for a few years but that was back in 2007 up until about 2010. I am very familiar with this place.. archaeology and all the legends. But yes, I actually tried looking for the tunnel entrance a few times.. I've never come across anything put some people in the village do believe.. if the archaeologists come across anything their definitely didn't mention it because obviously it brings the wrong type of attention for these urban explorers who just basically have no idea about the history but just want to look for the underground alleged tunnel.. however I do believe in the cemetery where the entrance could possibly be.. what do you take from that is entirely up to you my friend.. but it is there in plain sight for everyone to see but I will not mention it in the comments.. it's actually one of my favourite churches throughout North Yorkshire.. if you go to the church in swanby and if they are feeling in a good mood sometimes they open the church.. you can actually go in and see the effigy of Richard de maynell not sure whether I'm sparing that correctly? I also know that the two castles are connected one Danby castle. They are connected through family the Darcy's the Grays and the the previous name that I mentioned butfield to spell correctly 😄 when I found out that both castles were connected I did some research at Danby castle also.. however I do believe when I was researching the place that it was about to be made into a bed and breakfast hotel.. the premises was vacant when I went in 2008 and 09.. I spent a very long time researching whorlton gatehouse in castle.. I do have the owners address but I am sure that he is no longer with us and maybe the castle has been passed now to his family.. I do have their address.. but I'm not going to give it out on a public platform. It is a beautiful castle.. and the history about it is awesome. It's has only ever seen combat on and that was during the civil war.. the place itself date back to Roman times.. while you were there did you see the fish ponds? I am quite friendly with the land owners of surrounding farmland also so I could just ramble anywhere I really wanted to go when I did my research.. it is a beautiful place and very close to my heart indeed.
Unfortunately it has been left to rack and ruin and his constantly hammered by yobs.. I used to be security for the castle a long time ago volunteered as I used to know the owner personally.. it is heartbreaking to see the state that it is in now.. I spent 17 years as a paranormal investigator investigate in this exact castle and gatehouse.. and the Roman village that used to be there as it did back to Roman times.. no it's just where all the drug is and people who are drinking on a weekend go and looking for somewhere to camp.. the lighting fires within the gatehouse.. it is tragic. Thank you for a wonderful video this place is majestic as it is beautiful.. or at least used to be.😢
Thanks Shaun. It's so sad to hear about its plight, I don't know what the answer is - when there are people who don't see the value in our heritage and just want to vandalise it, such a shame! 😥
@@relicsruins it never had the full security that it deserved in English heritage who are associated with the upkeep don't do a really good job.. them all bothered about mount Grace priory.. rievaulx abbey all the other beautiful places that we are surrounded by here in North Yorkshire I love your channel because I am just a history fanatic.. but I also love the folklore and legends about the areas that has made imprints since the first stones were laid.
@@ShaunUnderwoodx English Heritage do have numerous unmanned sites, but that wouldn't help with the security issues that are obviously required at Whorlton.
I love history.. passionately.. thank you for an awesome video.. I live in North Yorkshire and for me it's one of the best districts in the UK.. I actually travel around to places like fountains abbey rievaulx abbey and Bolton abbey.. you should visit Easby Abby.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Shaun - much appreciated! I agree with you about North Yorkshire, unfortunately I don't live there, but it's my most visited part of the UK for good reason. We visited Easby last summer a few days after I filmed for this video - that one is in my list of 'to-do' projects 😁
Lol did you know that was my family’s castle? DNA tested and everything I’ve always wanted to visit and if you wanted to know it is straight acenstors from me. So I am basically like a great etc grandson from then?
Me encantan las ruinas y los lugares abandonados, tienen algo especial y sobre todo nos permiten dejar volar la imaginación y soñar con tiempos antiguos 😃💚👍🏻26 +subs
I see this is from 1 yr ago, I was there last June. I live in Australia but I’m originally from the U.K. My sister lives in Scotland and organised our trip to Orkney. We also had beautiful weather like that in your video. Such a magical place and amazing history in this ancient village ❤️
Hi Wendy, Thanks so much for watching! It was actually two years ago that we visited - and we were so lucky with the weather! I agree, it's a magical place, and so well preserved, you can imagine the ancestors living their daily lives inside those buildings ❤️
This was wonderfully done, i see improvement in each of your videos, really appreciate the map inlay!! The castle looks to me like what i imagine the style the early Crusaders brought back, small and efficient strongbox outposts, well made but not large and opulent yet, maybe the beginning of castle building technology, fascinating! Thank you
Thank you so much for your kind words and continued support. I'm going to try to include a location map on all my videos from now on 😁. The ruins that are still standing is actually just the gatehouse. I've tried to find some information about what the actual castle looked like, but there doesn't seem to be any information about it.
From what I've read, Doggerland's submerging pre-dates the occupation of Skara Brae by 4,000 years, but the inhabitants of the village may well have migrated to this area as the seas rose. I hadn't really considered that. Interesting...
Very much enjoyed your visit to Whorlton Church and Castle. Love the coat of arms on the castle, the old church has so much charm to it and I found it quite eerie in the churchyard, lovely video, really well narrated and put together!
Thanks so much! I really appreciate your support as always. I hadn't realised until I was researching for the script that it was only the gatehouse that remains. I'm now intrigued as to what the main castle would have looked like. I agree with you regarding the churchyard, it's very atmospheric.
It’s a fascinating old quirky building and you’ve provided copious information on it. I made a RU-vid of it myself several years ago but I take my hat off to you sir as you’ve done a much more comprehensive job of it. The village where it’s located called Lochewe isn’t it (“Loch-you”) . I was with a hiking club doing a walk near there. Our friendly coach driver John actually lives in the village and invited us to walk around his extensive garden (which was home to fancy chickens!) . His wife was very nice but putting the kettle on for 30-40 surprise visitors would have been a bit much!😂
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'll check out your video too. That's nice you got an impromptu tour of the coach driver's garden - it's such a lovely location overlooking the loch. I agree, tea for 40 would have been a struggle!
@@relicsruins I would love to visit the Kirk again. You might enjoy my video from earlier this year of St.Eunan’s College, Letterkenny, Ireland at night by drone. My first night flight😊
@@TerryMcGearyScotland I've just watched a few of your videos. There's some great drone footage there! It's inspired me to take mine with me more often
We did this one 1 year ago took a the drone but it was a bit windy didn't get the footage we wanted, we are going back at some point this place truly incredible and you did a great job.
Thank you so much Claire, I really appreciate it! It's definitely one to visit again. I've lost count of the number of times I've wanted to capture some drone footage and not been able to.
@@relicsruins I'm a team member of Historic Adventures which I think you have already subscribed to sometime ago,we do try and get the drone up whenever possible.
What a charming priory in Lincolnshire. Interesting to hear the history surrounding the orgins and it's destruction by the Danish invasion, wow! Enjoyed this one, thank you for sharing.
Hi Paul this was really interesting, the legend of the two brothers was fascinating about how the icon went and the brother was healed . Beautiful place and very informative ~ Anna
It was built with small slate stones rather than the typical large monolithic stone we would normally see and used to finding. I guess it was due to the abundance of the stone being available in the area and maybe due to the limited number of people in the small dwellings?
That's a really interesting point. There are obviously monolithic sites very close to Skara Brae used for ceremonial purposes, but I assume using smaller flat stones for the houses was more practical for the construction. Thanks so much for watching!
We lived in the Fylde in Lancashire and used to travel to Stockton to visit a sister. Bowes was on our route. We stopped once. Brougham castle is in better condition. My son and I were the only visitors when we went. Appleby castle was still a home in the 1980s when we holidayed nearby but was partly open to visitors. It is at the top of a hill with the parish church way down at the bottom. I think Abbleby, Brougham and Brough were all owned, eventually, by a lady Clifton who had yo battle for the right to her inheritance. A tough lady.
I visited Brougham a few years ago without my camera, so plan to go back to film it, and I agree it's much more complete and in a beautiful location next to the river. I've just read up on Lady Clifford - she certainly does seem to have been a tough character! Thanks so much for watching, Helena
I was ablento visit before Covid. It's really neat to be able to explore inside. There was a little bit of interpretive signage. Hopefully they'll be able to stabilize the ruins enough to allow people to visit inside again. The walk out to the castle is also interesting. If there's not a lot of people around it feels very much like you're discovering a place few know about. I am a Campbell so learning about this castle is extra fascinating for me.
Hey Bethene, I'm glad you have been able to visit, it's a stunning castle in an amazingly beautiful location. When we visited there weren't many people either, but I also really wanted to explore inside! Hoping that they can re-open it, as I'll be straight back there to do another video! Best wishes, Paul
