The Friends of Sandal Castle

The Friends of Sandal Castle group was set up in November 2010 with the aims of promoting the castle as an important historical location and encouraging activities which would benefit and help preserve the site.

The Friends had their first annual general meeting on 3 December 2011 in the information centre at the castle. The speaker was field archaeologist Janet McNaught, from the Pontefract Castle Friends. Her talk was followed by a short formal meeting and a discussion on how the Sandal Friends might best protect the heritage of the castle.

The anniversary of the death of Richard III, Duke of York, was marked on New Year’s Eve with the presence of the Towton Battlefields Group and members of the Frei Compagnie, who held a 'Show and Tell' at the information centre, where the Friends of Sandal Castle hosted the event.

Present at the memorial were members of the Richard III Society and Wakefield Historical Society, whose members held a successful Pontefract to Fotheringhay walk in 2010 to mark the 550th. anniversary of the duke's death.

The Friends of Sandal Castle arranged a talk by the historian and author Alan Stringer on 14 July 2012 at the castle information centre. His subject was the 'The Battle of Ferrybridge 27-28 March 1461'.

Alan is an active member of the Towton Battlefield Society and his talk looked at the bitter clashes at Ferrybridge and Dintingdale, precursors to the momentous battle of Towton.

The Friends’ next annual general meeting will be at the information centre on 17 November at 3pm, after which Helen Cox will speak about the Battle of Towton. Her talk will complete our cycle of lectures on the battles in our region associated with the‘Wars of the Roses.

New members are welcome and an application form may be downloaded here: Membership form

Sandal author Dr Keith Souter writes historical fiction involving the castle. Details of his work may be found >

Local historian Helen Cox has a website >here