A WOMAN who gets paid a full-time salary to live in a beautiful castle for free says it has also helped her to keep in shape.
Joe Gilligan is a site officer at Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire, and as part of her role she also lives there.
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Joe, who previously worked with social services, ended up in the castle after being redeployed following her shoulder replacement.
Steeped in history, the iconic castle is the site of a series of famous sieges during the 17th-century English Civil War and King Richard II is thought to have died there.
She was a single mum to her then teenage daughter when the phone call came offering the opportunity of a lifetime.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, she said: “I got this phone call from the council: ‘We don’t know whether you’ll be interested, we’ve got this part-time custodian live-in at Pontefract Castle’.
“Well, it took me all of two minutes to decide this was the job I was going to come to because I’ve always been outside-y, always been interested in history, and wanted a bit of a change.”
The building Joe lives in – the lodge – is part of a group of connected buildings sitting at the castle’s entrance which were all built during the Victorian era when the grounds were made into a pleasure park.
In June, it will have been 18 years since Joe moved into the lodge as custodian.
Reflecting on when she first moved to the castle, Joe spoke of her excitement and how she shed the pounds due to the hard graft.
She said: “I just loved it so much.
“I was quite shocked at how little anybody seemed to have any interest in the castle itself, so I just started working – very hard. I lost a lot of weight because I was walking round with the wheelbarrow.
“The castle was a totally different place. It was just a dog walking place, no one was particularly bothered about looking after it.”
And after walking around Pontefract Castle for nearly two decades, Joe is able to identify any imperfections in the stone work purely by sight.
The historic stronghold is made of both sandstone and limestone.
But frost or people climbing on walls can cause damage, meaning the castle often needs maintenance.
Joe’s role as a site officer is shared with a part-time staff member to ensure the role is covered seven days a week.
She said that looking after the grounds felt more like looking after her home than a job.
“We’re a big community, we know all the dog walkers, everybody knows each other and we’re very supportive and we’re a safe place to go,” she added
“I’m so proud of living here, working here.
“I know it’s not my place but I want it to be wonderful for everybody else. And I work really hard – and the rest of the team of course – to make it a safe and fantastic time when people come.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s snowy, rainy, sunny, every single day I come to work and I’m like: I am so lucky to have this job.”
History of Pontefract Castle
The castle, on a rock to the east of the town above All Saints’ Church, was constructed in approximately 1070 by Ilbert de Lacy.
Initially the castle was a wooden structure which was replaced with stone over time.
Robert de Lacy failed to support King Henry I during his power struggle with his brother, and the King confiscated the castle from the family during the 12th century.
The castle passed through different hands due to marriages.
In 1399, Richard II seized the estate after banishing John of Gaunt’s son Henry Bolingbroke, from England.
But upon returning to England, Bolingbroke soon deposed Richard and took the crown for himself as Henry IV.
Richard II was captured by Henry Bolingbroke’s supporters in August 1399 and was initially imprisoned in the Tower of London.
But he was then moved to Pontefract Castle where he remained under guard until his death.
The castle was the site of a series of famous sieges during the 17th-century English Civil War.
During the English Civil Wars, Pontefract Castle was involved in three sieges with final siege in 1648.
Joe is also heavily involved in the gardening at the castle with volunteers such as Peter Collier currently in the process of planting 500 saplings around the grounds.
The community surrounding the castle is also hugely important.
Everything that is planted is a native species so as not to affect any surrounding trees.
They also avoid planting anything with very big roots, and set larger plants back from the castle to avoid damaging its stonework.
As part of the Duchy of Lancaster estate, the castle is required to display certain flags on given days, such as a Royal family member’s birthday or St George’s Day.
Joe said that the flag is “definitely part of the castle” and is very important to the local community.
She added: “When it gets really bad weather I have to get up there and take the flag down completely so there may be periods of time when there isn’t a flag up but it’s purely because we don’t want to lose it, [it could] rip off in the bad weather.”
In 1399 King Richard II was captured by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke and had his throne taken away from him.
He was imprisoned by the new King Henry IV at Pontefract Castle, where he is thought to have starved to death.
This infamous event is immortalised in Shakespeare’s play, Richard II.
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