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RICHMOND is the Dales' single most tempting historical town, thanks mainly to its magnificent castle, whose extensive walls and colossal keep cling to a precipice above the River Swale. Indeed, the entire town is an absolute gem, centred on a huge cobbled market square backed onto by hidden alleys and gardens housing mainly Georgian buildings of great refinement. The town itself is much older, having been dubbed Riche-Mont ("noble hill") by the Normans who first built a castle here in 1071. That heritage is also celebrated in local street names such as Frenchgate and Lombard's Wynd (a "wynd" being a narrow alley). There's no better place to start than Richmond Castle (daily: April-Oct 10am-6pm; Nov-March 10am-1pm & 2-4pm; GBP2.70; EH), reached by signposted alleys from the market square. Originally built by Alan Rufus, first Norman Earl of Richmond, it retains many features from its earliest incarnation, principally the gatehouse, curtain wall and Scolland's Hall, the oldest Norman great hall in the country. Most of medieval Richmond - all cobbled streets and narrow wynds - sprouted around the castle, but much of the town now radiates from the vast Market Place , with the Market Hall alongside (markets on Thurs, Fri & Sat). The most unusual structure is the defunct Holy Trinity church, built in 1135 and now serving as the Green Howards Museum (April-Oct Mon-Sat 9.30am-4.30pm; Nov-March Mon-Fri 10am-4pm; GBP2), honouring North Yorkshire's Green Howards regiment. The Richmondshire Museum , reached down Ryder's Wynd, off King Street on the northern side of the square (Easter-Oct daily 11am-5pm; GBP1.50), is of more general interest. Best of all, though, is the town's Theatre Royal (Mon-Sat 2.30-3.45pm; GBP1.50), dating from 1788, making it one of England's oldest extant theatres. Unassuming from the outside, the theatre's tiny interior is one of England's finest pieces of Georgian architecture. A museum at the rear gives an insight into eighteenth-century theatrical life, allowing visitors to have a go at scene-shifting, use the thunderbox prop or try on the various masks and costumes.
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