Sandal Castle is a ruin near the town of Wakefield in West Yorkshire and overlooks the River Calder and Pugneys Country Park. It is near to the site where the Battle of Wakefield is said to have taken place in 1460, which resulted in the death of Richard, Duke of York. For other uses of the word, see Wakefield (disambiguation). ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in England, corresponding roughly to the core of the West Riding of the traditional county of Yorkshire. ... The River Calder is a river in West Yorkshire, England. ... The Battle of Wakefield took place at Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, on December 30, 1460, and was one of the major actions of the Wars of the Roses. ... This article is about Richard, Duke of York, father of King Edward IV. For the article about Edward IVs son who was imprisoned in the Tower of London see: Richard, Duke of York (Prince in the Tower). ...

The Castle was first constructed by the Normans, and its first occupants were the de Warrens. The Normans (adapted from the name Northmen or Norsemen) were a mixture of the indigenous Gauls of France and of the Viking invaders under the leadership of Rollo (Gange Rolf). ...

During the English Civil War, Sandal Castle was a Royalist stronghold and was besieged at least two times by Parliamentarian troops. The term English Civil War (or Wars) refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between (1649-1651) between supporters of Charles I and Charles II on the one hand and supporters of the English Parliament. ... The noun or adjective, Royalist, can have several shades of meaning. ... A parliamentarian is a specialist in parliamentary procedure. ...

In 2003, Sandal Castle was given a wooden walkway, to allow people to walk to its summit without causing erosion. This was intended as a measure to stop people permanently damaging the ruins. However, there has been a strong outcry from those who feel that the walkway has corrupted the historical environment provided by the castle. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up Erosion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Eroded paddock, Australia Detail of erosion Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity... Rocky landscape with ruins, by Nicolaes Berchem, ca. ... The Alcázar of Segovia, Spain A castle (from the Latin castellum, diminutive of castra, a military camp, in turn the plural of castrum or watchpost), is a fort, a camp and the logical development of a fortified enclosure. ...

There is a visitor centre about 100 metres from the castle proper.