As a convict awaiting transportation you were entitled to “Kings Allowance” of 2s and 6d a week. The government were charged anything from £8 to £12 per prisoner and escorting jailers received a set fee per mile for each prisoner.

If you could not pay your debts and were found guilty you would have found yourself serving time in castles debtors’ prison. The castle housed between 3 to 400 debtors at any one time who would be required to work within prison.

Life as debtors was quite comfortable compared to other inmates and you would receive in payment for your work 3 ozs of bread, 4ozs of oatmeal daily and 1oz of salt and 10 lbs of potatoes on a weekly basis.

If you were one of lucky ones who had access to money from friends or family then your stay in prison was even more luxurious. You could choose your own type of accommodation from 22 rooms set aside for just such people. The price ranged from 5s to 30s and included a fire, candles, cutlery and a servant who did cooking and cleaning. The lifestyle did not stop there. You were able to buy beer and wine, purchase tobacco and newspapers, buy meat, groceries, fruit and vegetables from debtor’s market which was held in castle yard. You could carry on with your profession and have visitors from morning until night.

And you thought life was a hardship in prison!

Until 1902 when Borstal system was introduced, if you were caught as a child committing an offence you could be expected to be fined or sentenced to five days hard labour. The resulting fine of 7s and 6d meant that for most families their children went to prison and completed five days of hard labour.

Lancaster has not been short of royal visitors during her 800 years. The first visitor of note was King John who held court and received French Ambassadors and King Alexander of Scotland in 1206. From that point in time there was a steady stream of visitors.

In 1400’s Henry IV held his court in castle and it was also patronized by Edward IV. Both James I and Charles II visited during 17th century. By 1800’s, Lancaster was a very popular place to visit with nine Royal visits.

The first was in 1803 with Prince William Fredrick of Gloucester. Queen Adelaide visited in 1840 and Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and Royal children spent time there in 1852.

The most recent royal visitor was Queen Elizabeth in 1999.

Today Lancaster Castle is a thriving tourist attraction, working prison and court room.

I hope you have enjoyed this two part series on History of Lancaster Castle and when you find yourself in area, pay her a visit.

Best Wishes Stuart Bazga

www.guide-to-castles-of-europe.com

8) Art & Culture – The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is a work of art in itself and worth visiting even if you’re not interested in wealth of art and artefacts contained therein. The museum is an incredibly daring structure built from titanium, glass and stone, and it beats at heart of this city of contrasts. Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum is tame in architectural comparison but it houses one of Picasso’s greatest works, in fact, possibly one of greatest works of 20th Century namely Guernica…if you want art and culture, Spain has it in heaps and every city, town or region you visit will offer you a whole host of opportunity to experience Spanish cultural riches.

9) World Heritage Sites - The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is dedicated to ensuring future generations inherit treasures of past by working to protect both cultural and natural sites of significance worldwide. Spain has over 35 sites that have been flagged as world heritage sites – we challenge you to visit them all!

10) Tomato Fighting – not fighting tomatoes (that would be silly), but fighting with tomatoes in Valencia in August. Yes, one of strangest of all Spanish festivals and carnivals is La Tomatina where upwards of 30,000 semi-naked people gather to throw tomatoes at each other before getting washed down by hoses of local fire brigade…it is truly an experience worth…well…experiencing really! If only to say ‘been there, done that.’

Spain is different! It is a country which effortlessly and seamlessly combines a plethora of fiestas, indefatigable nightlife, stunning and diverse natural scenery, supposedly impossible to achieve levels of synergy between ancient and modern architecture and artistic culture, fun and fascination, beautiful people, incredible cuisine, sun, sea, sand and sangria - to create a variety and spice of life you will never experience outside of Spain.