Pickering Castle is an 11th century earthwork motte and bailey fortress, founded by William the Conqueror. In the late 12th century, King Henry II founded the stone castle, when crowning the motte with a shell keep and encasing the inner bailey with a curtain wall, flanked by the Coleman Tower. The restored chantry chapel of 1227 and the foundations of the early to mid 12th century Old Hall, also stand in the inner bailey. In 1324-26 King Edward II replaced the timber palisade which encased the outer bailey with a curtain wall. The wall is flanked by a gatehouse and three rectangular towers, one having a small postern gate at its base, with its own drawbridge to cross the outer ditch. Visible to the west is Beacon Hill, a siege-castle built during the Anarchy, in the reign of King Stephen or the minority of King Henry III. 4 miles to the east is Wilton Castle and 13 miles west is Helmsley Castle.