Lowe Hill near Thornes 1890

A = Medieval ridge and furrow. B = Lowe Hill motte surrounded by its bailey.

The first earl Warenne was a commander in the Norman army at Battle, Lord of Belencombre in Normandy, Reigate in Surrey and Lewes in Sussex.

Sandal Castle near Sandal Magna

The bailey or castle courtyard had a number of buildings around its outer perimeter. These buildings catered for business, entertaining and communal meals.
The latter took place on the first floor of the Great Hall. One wall of this is still extant and is one of the most visible aspects of the castle remains today.
Some of the castle staff slept here in the Great Hall at night. To the east of the hall were private rooms for the earl and his family. Today to the west of
the hall, can be seen the foundations of the larder, kitchen, bakehouse and brewery. The constable supervised the castle, and resided in buildings near
the gatehouse.
         ..  

Structure of Sandal Castle by the early 1300's

John, the eighth Earl Warenne, Earl of Surrey and Sussex.[1286-1347] is perhaps the most 
interesting and controversial owner of Sandal Castle. He had succeeded to the estates in 1304.
In 1306 John married Joan of Bar, grand-daughter to Edward I. They later divorced without issue.
[There is a Bar Lane in the nearby hamlet of Midgley] John quarrelled with Piers Gaveston, Edward II's favourite, and joined the party of barons at Scarborough in 1312, when Gaveston was taken prisoner and murdered at Blacklow Hill near  Warwick Castle, Warwickshire..
But John recanted when Gaveston was murdered and returned to supporting Edward II,
an unpopular king. 
As mentioned elsewhere, John produced many "divers bastards" and left no lawful issue. The estate was thus transferred to the crown following his excommunication in 1316 for adultery with an Isabel de Houland [Holland of Upholland, Lancs] and Maud/Matilda de Neireford*, both producing illegitimate children. Later John married Matilda⁴  [others say Isabel de Holland² who d.1389] 
John 8th earl of Warenne had a disagreement with the Earl of Lancaster over the murder of
Gaveston and subsequently the Warennes of Conisbrough abducted [or she willingly absconded] Lancaster's wife whilst in southern England and held her at  Reigate Castle in Surrey. This and the fact Warenne had left his cause against Edward II prompted  Lancaster to lay siege to Sandal and Conisbrough Castles in October 1317. Sandal Castle was supposedly burnt to the ground although archaeological excavation has not shown any great evidence of this sacking  except for a thin layer of black ash found beneath a layer of sand and black rotted vegetation near the bottom of a barbican garderobe completed about  1270-1271.⁸ 
The earl of Lancaster also laid siege to Conisbrough Castle with a resultant battle in October 1317. In the following year a Robert Hood of
Wakefield was called to join King Edward II's army for service in Scotland but he disobeyed. This is not surprising as many men stayed home in 1318 to
bring in the first good harvest following two severe years of famine compounded by cattle murrain in this year. At the same time the earl of Lancaster who
held the manor of Wakefield from 1317-1322 did not attend and no doubt encouraged his workers to do the same.
* This is also variously spelled Neirford, Nerford or Mairford but it would seem that Maud de Nereford  was born at Narford Hall, lying west of the Warenne castle of Castle
Acre, Norfolk. Castle Acre remained associated with Sandal and the Warennes until the death of the 8th earl in 1347.

In the 12th year of Ed.(1319) John 8th earl de Warenne was forced to grant the manor to Thomas earl of Lancaster,
probably because of earl Warenne's licentiousness and consequent ex-communication by the Pope, but equally,
Edward II feared the power of Lancaster and may have been trying to appease him to retain control of the North
of England..  

Some writers suggest that from 1320 Thomas earl of Lancaster  built a stone castle at Sandal Magna, however excavations indicate that stone construction was occurring in the late 1200's. Excavations also indicate that the castle had a keep surmounting the motte with twin turrets either side and guarding a
passage entry which was protected by a high wall. The whole being protected by a closed semi-circular barbican
defending a drawbridge.
However Thomas Earl of Lancaster's tenure of Sandal Castle was short lived when he allied with the Scots against
Edward II and lost at Boroughbridge in 1322, being executed at Pontefract in the same year. Pontefract reverted
to Edward II until granted to Henry Plantagenet, Thomas's brother in 1324.

A reconstruction of the keep and barbican about 1300 during the 8th earl's time9

                                               .
The hypothesis is that the young 'emancipated' Edward III came north with his wife Philippa and
friends, passing through Barnsdale to Wakefield, granting money to build a new Wakefield church in the same year and perhaps staying at Sandal Magna and Pontefract. This secured a loyal base in
Yorkshire  where he had been married earlier at York to Philippa of Hainaut ["Hainault"] on
the 24th January 1328 and thence campaigned with Yorkshire forces against the Scots in Durham
in 1327. 1331 is a year in which King Edward III appears to be appraising the likelihood of war
with  Scotland and settling to his new found power. Robert de Bruce having died in 1329, the
 Scots in 1331 were coming well  South into Yorkshire, where they sensed an imbalance of
 power during the  changeover of  the English throne.
In 1332 Edward Baliol [the son of King John II Baliol and Isabel de Warenne] the Scottish claimant, sailed  to Fife from Ravenspurn in Yorkshire and took the Scottish crown for a short duration, however he soon came back across the border on a saddless horse almost naked in his attempt to flee the Scots who had discovered he had covertly agreed with Edward III that Edward would be his overlord⁷. We know that in about the year 1332 Edward de Balliol of Scotland, son of King John Baliol and Isabel de Warenne [the 7th earl's daughter] stayed at Sandal Castle² under John 8th earl Warenne's benevolence, John Warenne had been forgiven, for Edward III knew he had to get the assistance of these northern lords to overcome any possible coup against himself. A war with Scotland especially a successful one would secure him a place in their favour. The Scots had made several plundering excursions into Yorkshire from 1311 and except for the Earl of Lancaster* who lands were purposely avoided, the barons were desperately requesting help. * Lancaster was trying to make an alliance with the Scots against Edward II.

                                                       .
                                                                                            Artist's impression of a siege

Following Edward Balliol's unceremonious departure from Scotland, three English divisions were amassed against its Northern neighbour, one at Sandal Castle
and later, two at Pontefract under the Earl of Norfolk and the King. [an earlier Earl of Norfolk's daughter had married the 6th Earl Warenne] 
They moved northwards to Berwick to overwhelmingly defeated the Scots at Halidon Hill setting the scene for Crecy and Calais. Edward Baliol was once
again placed on the Scottish throne.

See sketch of Sandal Castle and Wakefield from 1722  the castle was destroyed in 1648 along with that of Pontefract.

J.W. Walker's sketch of the remains of the Great Hall in 1893.

The barbican probably completed in 1270-71 as excavated in 1968-70                                              The fine ashlar stone work can be seen in its almost pristine state whilst the upper ashlar has been 'robbed' for local building stone. It is possible to visualise the superb original appearance of the stone castle from these remnants.                              The base of the drum towers as excavated in 1968-70                                                                       Photograph source:. Sandal Castle Wakefield. Wakefield Historical Publications 1991.

Timeline for the owners of Sandal Castle William I de Warenne b.1055, d.1088 and Gundreda of  St. Omer, Flanders. They both introduced the Cluniac Order into England at St. Pancras, Lewes when they established a priory in1077-8. He sought to marry Edith Ceannmhor, d. of Malcolm Ceannmhor, [Malcolm III] but Edith was then married to Henry I Beauclerc. This marriage may have been the reason for William's hatred of Henry, and helped in causing William to join Henry's son Robert Curthose in a rebellion. William I de Warenne supported the King against the barons but was fatally wounded by an arrow at the Battle of Pevensey. William II de Warenne [William de Placetis] 2nd earl de Warenne,  b. 1081, d.1138. He married Isabel [=Elizabeth] de Vermandois (her second marriage after Robert de Beaumont, the first Earl of Leicester, d. 1118). The eldest son of William the first earl Warenne, was granted the Sandal estates in 1107. He granted the parish church of Halifax to St. Pancras priory, Lewes and in 1190 founded a Cluniac daughter house of Lewes at Castle Acre, Norfolk. His daughter Adeline married Henry Ceannmhor, Prince of Scotland, earl of Northumbria and Huntingdon. The 2nd earl probably built the first Sandal Castle of timber. He  carried the Warenne Shield. In 1101 William 2nd earl supported Robert Curthose against Henry I and for a time was banished from the kingdom for his efforts. He was reinstated by Henry two years later and redeeemed by distinguishing himself at the battle of Tenchebrai during a Normandy conquest against Curthose. It may be at this time William the 2nd earl was granted the manor of Shelf, north-east of Halifax before being given the Wakefield manor. William III de Warenne, 3rd earl, b~1119 d.1148 on crusade in   Laodicia, Palestine. He married Adeliade Talvas [b. abt. 1110, Sussex]. The 3rd earl left no male heir, they had one child, Isabel de Warenne [b.1137, d.13th July 1199]. Isabel married Hamelyn Plantagenet of Conisbrough. The Warenne coat of arms or azure checky is derived from the Count of Vermandois arms through Warenne's wife. William de Blois 4th earl Warenne Isabel, daughter of William 3rd Earl Warenne was given in marriage to William de Blois, son of King Stephen. William de Blois died in 1159, Isabel and William had no issue. Hamelyn Plantagenet 5th earl, b.1129 d.1202. A natural son of Geoffrey of Anjou, he assumed the name Warenne upon his marriage in 1164 to Isabel, widow of the 4th earl. Henry II Curtmantle tried to get 'widow Warenne' to marry his brother William but the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, disallowed this on the grounds of consanguinity, subsequently she was given in marrage to Hamelyn, Henry's half brother. She is buried beside her husband at St. Pancras priory, Lewes. Hamelyn is credited with building the very early Norman stone fortifications of Conisbrough Castle replacing the earlier wooden motte and bailey built about 1100 and similarly at Sandal Castle. Hamelin supported Henry II and was one of the nobles to donate to Richard I's ransom.In later life he attended Prince John's coronation  [1199] and the oath of alliegance by the king of Scotland, William Ceannmhor, at Lincoln towards John and England [1200] as well as playing host to King John at Conisbrough. One of Hamelyn's daughters became a concubine of John. William Plantagenet Warenne 6th earl. b.1166, d.1240  In 1204 King John lost his campaign in France, and like all the English nobles who held land in France and supported John, the sixth earl's Normandy estates were confiscated by Phillip II of France. In 1225 he married Maud Marshal, daughter of the great knight William Marshal.William the 6th earl was loyal for a time to King John against the barons and indeed is one of only four nobles whose name appears in the Magna Charta for John. But by the summer of 1216 he had deserted John and was supporting an invasion by the Dauphin, Louis of France. The sixth earl supported Edward III. He confirmed Kirklees priory in 1236 and also visited the Holy land and the Shrine of St. James [Santiago] at Compostella, Northern Spain. Maud Marshall held the Wakefield Manor from 1240 after the 6th earl's death to 1252 when her son John 7th earl de Warenne came of age. John was only 9 years old when his father  died. John 7th earl Warenne b.1231, d.1306 He married Alice de Lusignan in 1247. He succeeded in 1240 on the death of his father. He was aged 16 years when  according to John Major the ballad hero Robyn Hode was supposed to have died [1247] Also in 1247 the 7th earl's daughter, Isabella de Warenne was married to John II Balliol. < John II Balliol and Isabella Warenne John the 7th earl was a half brother to Roger III Bigod through their mother Maud Marshal. It was during the John the 7th earl's time [1274] that the Wakefield Court Rolls were begun. In 1296 the 7th earl was appointed warden for Scotland by Edward I. In the same year Robert III Butler of Skelbrooke, an inspiration for Robyn Hode was pressed to death at York. 1299- at the  Battle of Falkirk, Edward I and John 7th earl Warenne triumph over the Scots. John was an ally to Simon de Montfort and a bitter enemy of his wife's relatives the de Lusignans, she was Henry III's half sister. He held Lewes Castle near de Montfort's greatest battle at Lewes. He attended Edward II's investiture as a knight at Caernarvon Castle in 1306. William de Warenne b.1256, dvp.1286 -he was ambushed and killed at a tournament in Croydon. He married Joan de Vere d.of Robert de Vere 5th earl of Oxford. He pre-deceased his father so never becoming an earl, dying at the age of 30 just after his marriage. His son John was born in the year of his death. John 8th earl Warenne b.1286 d.1347 - probably from the Black Death. He was a major land holder in East Anglia. He eventually married one of his concubines, Maud de Nereford of Narford Hall west of Castle Acre. In 1317 he had Alice de Laci abducted. She was the husband of Thomas Plantagenet earl of Lancaster,  this and Warenne's disagreement with Thomas over the death of Gaveston may have been the start of the 'Elland Feud'. However there had been strong disagreement over who held lands in the region ['quo warranto'] since the time of the 7th earl.. The eigth earl may have owned the Macclesfield Psalter, now housed at the FitzWilliam Museum at Cambridge. In 1333 he gained the title of Count Palatine when he gained the earldom of Strathearne from his cousin, the claimant to the crown of Scotland, Edward Balliol. In 1240 he was ordered to supply 200 of the 500 rabbits for Henry III's Christmas feast. The 8th earl was was seriously flawed in marriage and a profligate. In 1347 John 8th earl died whilst with his 'companion' Isabel de Holand. His two illegitimate sons by Maud de Neirford now Countess Warenne, did not inherit, becoming Knights Hospitallers in the Holy Land. The earldom lapsed at John's death. For this same year Joseph Hunter claimed that the non-historical ballad figure Robyn Hode died at Kirklees priory which lay within the Wakefield Manor. [But see the death of Stephen II Le Waleys of Burgh Wallis in the same year]. The line of Maud de Nereford, lost the lands after her death [~1360], these lands then passed to Edward III's young son, Edmund de Langley whilst Pontefract Castle and its honour resided in the hands of the king's eldest son, John of Gaunt, granted some time after 1322      A victim of the Black Death or Great Pesrtilence         Mr Haldane of Clarke Hall North Wakefield excavated the site of St. Swithen's chantry, which lay a little to the east of Clarke and Midgley Halls on a piece of land called St. Swithen's Close. The chantry was founded by John 8th earl of Warenne, lord of Lewes [Sussex], Conisbrough, Castle Acre, Sandal, and the manor of Wakefield. It was built for plague victims, who could attend devotionals whilst others could attend their parish churches without the fear of  plague or 'cadaveric particles' being transmitted. It is ironic that the 8th earl may have died from the Black Death or Great Pestilence [in the 21st year of Edward III,about 1347-1348, at the age of approximately 61]. Matilda/Maud de Neireford (now Countess de Warenne) lived on until about 1360, her two sons John and Thomas, who both became Knights Hospitallers in the Holy Land, pre-deceased her. The Wakefield Manor reverted to Edward III  and the barony and revenues were granted in 1362 by Edward to his son Edmund [Plantagenet] de Langley. The earl's title moved south to Arundel in Sussex.

Links: 
Conisbrough Castle
Wakefield Museum Page   Castle Site: 7 days a week dawn till dusk (note this means the gates shut early in winter) Visitor Centre: Wednesday to Sunday 11:00 -15:00

 Further Reading:
Walker, J.W. History of Wakefield. 1934, second edition 1939.