In 1221 the castle's owner, William de Forz, the Count of Aumale, rebelled against Henry III; the fortification was captured by royalist forces and the King ordered it to be destroyed.

The mound which Skipsea Castle was built upon a much earlier Iron Age structure[1] of comparable construction to Silbury Hill in Wiltshire.

[2] Skipsea Castle was built around 1086 by Drogo de Beavriere, a Flemish mercenary and the first Lord of Holderness, following the Norman Conquest of England and the subsequent Harrying of the North.

[3] The region was on the frontier of Norman power and the lordship was intended to protect central Yorkshire against potential Danish raids across the North Sea.

[4] Skipsea formed the administrative centre of Drogo's huge estates, which stretched from the Humber to Bridlington, as well as serving as his caput, or principal residence.

[12] After the suspicious death of his wife Drogo fled England, and the castle was reassigned by William the Conqueror to Odo, the Count of Aumale.

[11] Trade initially flourished and as a result William le Gros founded the fortified town of Skipsea Brough along the ridgeway just south of the castle, probably around 1160.

[6] After around 1200 the castle declined in importance: it was poorly situated, the threat of Danish raids had now passed, and so the nearby manor of Burstwick became the new administrative centre for the lordship instead.

[20] Skipsea Mere was drained in the second half of the 14th century and by 1397 the castle was considered worthless: the 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land around it became used for pasturing animals.

[11] The bailey was approximately 300 by 100 metres (980 by 330 ft), covering an area of around 8.25 acres (3.34 ha), curving around the west and south side of the castle.

[11] A break in the earthworks, now called Scotch Gap, was cut out during the 13th-century destruction of the castle, and the bank has been damaged in other ways from the installation of drainage works.