Incredible photo shows moat at Sandal Castle filled with water for the first time in years - and people have been spotted swimming in the water

This impressive photo shows the moment Wakefield's historic Sandal Castle moat was filled with water after a week of heavy snow and rain. Photo: Friends of Sandal Castle.

Photos shared on social media show the moat filled with several feet of water this week, a rare sight for the ruined castle.

Dr Keith Souter, who chairs the Friends of Sandal Castle group, said: "When we get heavy rain, particularly snow, the moat does fill up.

"It's not completely all the way around, but it's looking really good.

"Probably every two or three years running it does fill up, currently it's probably two or three feet deep."

And Dr Keith, who lives near the castle and visits most days, says he was surprised to see two women taking a swim in the water earlier in the week.

But he had some bad news for the swimmers about their choice of swim location, as they were passing through a section of the moat which was historically used as a dumping ground for the Garderobe, or castle toilet.

He said: "Yesterday I was out walking in my dog and there were two women swimming in it. They were immersed.

"They were in swim suits and had their floats, so it's certainly deep enough to float in.

"That in the spring is where the frogs come to, we get frogspawn in the moat.

"It actually looks quite nice, though I wouldn't swim in it myself. They were swimming in fact where the medieval Garderobe came out."

Sandal Castle has stood watch over the city of Wakefield for more than 900 years, and was once the site of a bloody battle which claimed thousands of lives and is believed to be one of the inspirations for a popular nursery rhyme.

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