In 1388 he granted a weekly market and an annual fair to the town of Middleham. It was probably Ralph who started to improve the castle’s facilities.
John’s eldest son, Ralph, 1st Earl of Westmorland, inherited Middleham in 1388. A bailey, or enclosure, stood beyond the ditch on its south side. The ringwork was protected with timber defences and surrounded by a deep ditch, which survives, partly water-filled. This castle consisted of timber buildings surrounded by a ringwork (a circular earthwork). It was probably built in about 1086, either by Alan, one of his vassals (tenants), or by Ribald, one of Alan’s illegitimate brothers. However, remains of an early castle survive to the south of the present castle, on the site known as William’s Hill. There are no written records for a castle at Middleham until 1216.
After the Norman Conquest, William I (r.1066–87) granted the lands in and around Middleham to Alan Rufus, ‘the Red’, his second cousin and one of his chief supporters. We know from Domesday Book (1086) that one Gilpatrick held land in and around ‘Medelai’ (Middleham) in the time of Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–66). A Roman bathhouse has been uncovered about 10 miles south-east of Middleham, probably part of a temple or villa. There is only slender evidence for any occupation in the area before the Norman Conquest of 1066.
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