Knaresborough is 4 miles E of Harrogate. The castle is now a ruined keep in a large public garden overlooking the gorge of the river Nidd. No twelfth-century remains are visible, though foundation levels and some remains of this period have been found in excavations. There is unfortunately no sculpture which has come to light and so this entry is for information only; see the entry for Knaresborough church.

To quote from The King’s Works p.688 and Pipe Roll 31 Henry I, p.31: 'the outlay in 1129-30 of £11 in operationibus Regis de Chernardesburgh is the earlest proof of its (the castle’s) existence.’

Waterman (1953) describes remains from what ‘appeared to have been a 12^th c. horizon on the then castle site'.