Here are some of the castles we saw in Northumberland. There are lots of them, and many of them are enormous. This area has been fought over by the English and the Scots for centuries and the biggest family - the Percy family, once Earls and now Dukes of Northumberland have been there since the 11th century are still in Alnwick castle and still own it.
This is Alnwick.
This is Bamburgh castle which has been a school, a hospital as well as a castle and a house. It is right on the coast and whereas Alnwick has original Tintorettos on the wall, this one has a very endearing selection of things put together almost at random. Lots of weapons, miscellaneous furniture, and lots of really lovely porcelain which is very nicely labelled so you can decide if you are going to opt for Meisen or Sevres when you win the lottery.
This is Dunstanburgh castle which is a ruin and right on the coast. It is enormous though we didn't go round this one as we have done castle ruins elsewhere and thought we would lie on the grass and soak up the sun instead. There are lots of other castles too, but we felt a bit castled out after these, and although we would quite like to have seen the castle at Holy Island we had a short time there because of the tides so it was only the Priory that we got to see.
What photos can't show you is the space there. It is a place where you can stretch out and not feel you are hitting the walls.
3 comments:
So much of the UK I do feel like I am hitting the walls when I stretch out. Beautifully put. It kind of boggles the mind that one family could have owned the same castle for so very long. Seems that would feel quite oppressive honestly.
I do believe one of those castles has had another life as Hogwarts!
Yes, Alnwick - we have pics of us where Harry learnt to fly.
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