Text taken from the 1951 'A guide to the town and neighbourhood' published by the Barnard Castle Publicity Society and Chamber of Trade.
The curtain wall of the inner bailey is of great height but
decayed in parts, and it has two flat buttresses of late Norman
type. Near the great round tower is a small multangular tower
projecting outwards from the wall with a shouldered doorway of
about A.D. 1300 leading on to the scarp of the ditch. Beyond this
is a larger tower of the same type but with 15th-century buttresses
and it is not bonded with the main wall. To the right of this
another curtain wall branches from the inner wall, descends the
deep ditch where there is a culvert, and, where it emerges on
the counter-scarp, there has been a gateway with drawbridge
leading into a small area called the middle ward.
The main wall of the outer bailey, or town ward, is best seen
outside from the Scar Top where some seats have been placed
near the foot of Galgate. The solid masonry of the wall is well
exposed, as well as the splayed base of the round tower where it
projects beyond the curtain. Under a pile of earth is the top of a
culvert which drained the inner ditch. The gateway to the outer
bailey is partly earthed up. It has a rounded arch of three orders.
The walls of the barbican have been destroyed but the pit for
the counterpoise stones of the drawbridge over the ditch are still
there, though under the ground. Slits guarding the approach
can be seen.
The upper part of the gate and the small round
tower to the west is about the same age as the great round tower.
In the garden within the wails is Brackenbury's Tower. The roof
has gone but its solid structure and vaulting suggest a Norman
date.
From the corner at the Scar Top to the King's Head the outer
wall is hidden by the shops of the Horsemarket and Market
Place, the back buildings of which are built on the ditch which
must have been about 90 or 100 feet wide. Along the wall are
the splayed arrow-loops to guard the wall.
Seen from the aqueduct over the river on the west the view of
the castle is impressive alike by its strong position and its romantic appearance. From the bridge below it towers above the rocks
to 150 feet above the river. The ground slopes gradually to the
south-east and the wall surrounding the Outer Ward increases in
height as the natural protection decreases, until, behind the shops
on the Bank, the wall is at present about 25 feet high. A garde-
robe or turret is corbelled out from the top where the wall begins
to bend round at the back of The Bank.
Like so many fortresses the last incident in the history of
Bernard's Castle was its mast notable. On the Rising of the North
in 1569, Sir George Bowes of Streatlam Castle garrisoned
Barnard Castle for the Queen in order to keep it out of the hands
of the powerful Nevilles and Percy The castle was besieged for
eleven days by the rebels and shortage of supplies as well as
desertions compelled Sir George to surrender. But the time thus
gained saved the country and enabled the royal forces to gather
and break up the revolt.
In 1952 the site passed into the care of the Ministry of Works and after some work to preserve and prepare the site the castle has been passed onto English Heritage. The castle is open to tourists for most of the year although the Outer Ward is now privately owned and not open to the public anymore, although all that needs to be seen can be seen from the Town Ward or the Inner Ward.
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