North East Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

From Harry Hotspur to Harry Potter....


Alnwick Castle is one of the oldest and largest inhabited castles in England. It has been the family home of the Percys and seat of the Dukes of Northumberland for over 700 years. It is built on a bluff above the River Aln, guarding the river crossing and town.

A simple motte and bailey castle was built here in 1096 by Ivo de Vesci on land given by William II. The castle was strengthened with a stone keep in the C12th by his son in law. It was attacked by David I of Scotland in 1136 and again besieged by William the Lion of Scotland in 1172 and 1174. William was captured and forced to pledge loyalty to Henry II .

In 1309, the castle and barony was sold to Henry Percy, first Lord of Alnwick, member of the King’s Council and Keeper of the Marches. Along with his son, another Henry they were responsible for strengthening the defences of the castle, converting it into a mighty border fortress, which played an important role in guarding the Border against the Scots.

A fortified barbican and gatehouse were added to control entry to the castle as well as additional towers along the curtain wall.

Additional buildings were added along the inside of the curtain wall, including a chapel. The castle had two prisons, one in the gatehouse and another in the northern octagonal tower. They also placed stone figures along the top of the walls. These were very popular at the time and may have tricked attackers into thinking the castle was more heavily guarded.

In 1345, the Percys also acquired nearby Warkworth Castle and, although smaller, it became their preferred residence.

The Percy influence and power continued to grow and Henry the third Lord of Alnwick became Lord Marshall of England and created Earl of Northumberland. Along with his son, Harry Hotspur, he was also involved in the deposition of Richard II and placing Henry IV on the throne.

Harry Hotspur had gained a fearsome reputation as a fighter during campaigns against the Scots and the French. He increasingly became disillusioned with Henry IV after promised money, lands and favour for their support never materialised. Their grievances culminated in the Battle of Shrewsbury and the death of Hotspur in 1403. Hotspur was immortalised in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1 and is still very much a local hero. His statue stands in the town.

During the Wars of the Roses in the late C15th, the castle changed hands several times. The Percy’s were Lancaster supporters. The 4th Earl’s refusal to let his troops join in the Battle of Bosworth in support of Richard III was seen as crucial in his defeat.

During the C16th, Alnwick Castle was increasingly neglected and left to fall into disrepair. The reputation of the Percy’s fluctuated. Henry VII never really trusted the 4th Earl after the Battle of Bosworth. The 5th Earl’s expenditure nearly crippled the estates. The 6th Earl was allegedly secretly betrothed to Anne Boleyn, but the betrothal was broken when the King decided he wanted her. The final humiliation was when the 6th Earl had to sit on the jury that condemned Anne to death.

The 7th Earl was a Catholic and supported the ill fated “Rising of the Northern Earls’, designed to place Mary Queen of Scots on the throne. He was beheaded for treason.

The next two Earls didn’t fair any better and the 9th Earl was one of the plotters in the gunpowder plot and was imprisoned and fined £30.000. On his release 17 years later he was confined to his Sussex estates. Alnwick castle was left uninhabited.

The 10th Earl only visited Alnwick when affairs of state brought him to the north. He had learned from the mistakes of his predecessors and managed to steer a judicious course during the Civil War, supporting a compromise between King, Parliament and the People. The Parliamentarians burned Alnwick and troops were billeted in the castle. The estate survived intact but the castle was in a very poor state of repair.

It is his grand daughter Elizabeth who revived the castles fortunes when she inherited the estates in 1750. She married Hugh Smithson, who was created First Duke of Northumberland by George III. As well as being an influential figure in London Society, she had a passion for family history. Her passion for the castle was matched by the vision of her husband. Together they rebuilt much of the castle, turning it into their principal country seat and a family home. The keep was redesigned by Robert Adam to provide a suit of state rooms. The surrounding park was transformed by Capability Brown. Agriculture and local industry including coal mining and glass mining were modernised.

The 4th Duke disliked the Gothic fantasy and employed Anthony Savin to restore the exterior of the castle to its medieval border fortress appearance, complete with a gun terrace.

The state apartments embraced all the latest Victorian technology. The present castle is very much the work of the 4th Duke.

After the Second World War, the 10th Duke and Duchess decided to make Alnwick Castle their permanent home. They no longer had a large number of live in servants and much of the castle was left empty and used by the Alnwick Teacher Training College until 1977. From 1981, the castle became a branch campus providing classrooms and accommodation for students from St Cloud State University of Minnesota as part of their International Study Programme. This link is ending at the end of 2026.

Alnwick Castle and its gardens are now a major tourist attraction, especially after the castle was used for exterior and interior shots as Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films. They even do Broomstick training lessons in the outer bailey.

For those who get bored by stately rooms, there is the Artisan’s Courtyard with dressing up costumes and hands on demonstrations of medieval crafts. Alternatively try your hand at archery....

Website

Plan of the Castle

Detailed labelled plan of the castle

Virtual tour of the Castle

Information about the notorious Percy Dukes and their fall outs with the Crown

Information about Alnwick and Alnwick Castle gardens #7 - #10

cont...

 

[Eleanor]

Alnwick Castle cont....

Entry to the castle is through the Lion Arch which leads into the Inner Bailey, a large opened grassed area surrounded by the curtain wall.

Immediately to the left is the Middle Gateway leading into the outer bailey. Ahead is the main gateway leading into the inner courtyard, with its two massive octagonal towers.

These contained the porter’s lodge and guard rooms with a prison, accessed through a grate in the floor.

On the courtyard walls are the remains of the winding mechanism for the well.

Ahead is the main entrance to the state rooms in the keep.

Although it was the 1st Duke and Duchess who were responsible for restoring the state rooms in the Keep, it was 4th Duke was responsible for their opulent style of decoration. He even established a school of woodcarving in Alnwick.

The State Rooms include the Upper and Lower Guard Chambers, Library, Drawing Room, Saloon, te Dining Room, and the China Gallery. No photography is allowed in these rooms.

Entry is into ihe Lower Guard Room with a decorative display of late C18th swords and guns from the Percy Tenantry Volunteers and C17th armour reputedly worn by prisoners from the Battle of Dunbar in 1650.

The Grand Staircase leads up to the first floor. On the walls are Percy family portraits.

At the top is the very stylish Upper Guard Room with marble terrazzo floor, stucco plaster ceiling and marble statues of Justice and Britannia. Paintings include works by Titian, Canaletto, and Van Dyck. This was one of the last rooms to be restored by the 10th Duke. The Frieze panels high on the walls depict scenes from the old Border Ballad, Chevvy Chase. This tells the story of a large hunting party led by Percy, against the wishes of the Scottish Earl Douglas, who attacks them. A bloody battle ensues, which was won by the Scots.The Northumbrian pipe version of the song was traditionally played in the room welcoming guests on social occasions.

A doorway leads into the private family pew looking down on the Chapel. The original medieval chapel in the bailey had been removed in the late C18th during the restoration undertaken by the First Duke and Duchess. This was part of the Anthony Salvin restorations of the castle, next to the library. It has a very Gothic feel with its vaulted and painted ceiling and C17th and C18th French tapestries. These depict events in the life of the Emperor Constantine as well as the Biblical story of Tobit and Tobias.

Next to it, another doorway leads leads into the Ante Library, designed as a smaller and more intimate space than the library with its red brocade wqall paper and chairs arranged around the fireplaces. It has a chandelier and an elaborate carved wood ceiling picked out in gold.

The magnificent Library was added by the 10th Duke and takes up all of the first floor of the Prudhoe Tower. Around 14,000 books are displayed in here, arranged on two levels. Many were collected by the 9th Earl. The room is used as comfortable sitting room by the family and there are family photos around the room. The 4th Duke was a patron of the lifeboat movement and installed a weather station with barometer and weather gauges in the library. He sent daily weather records.

On the other side of the anti library is the Saloon which was the first room to be restored by the the 10th Duke and reflects the Italian design so beloved by him. It is a magnificent room with gold silk wall coverings, crystal chandeliers and a gilded ceiling. There are old masters and family portraits on the walls. It functioned as a reception room used to host large gatherings and social gatherings. In the C20th it served as a music room.

Beyond is the Drawing Room, possibly the most sumptuous of the state rooms occupying the whole of another corner tower. Walls are lined with red and gold silk and there is another impressive gilded carved ceiling with a painted frieze round the top of the walls. The two pietra dura cabinets were made for personal apartments of Louis XIV in the Palace of Versailles in 1683 and were bought by the 3rd Duke. They are complemented the set of LouisXIV style furniture.

The Dining Room is on the site of the medieval great hall. It is another splendid room with emerald green silk wall coverings and furnishings. The carved ceiling is decorated with Percy heraldry and there is a carved frieze below. The massive carved fireplace has classical figures on either side. There are more family portraits on the walls.

In the late C19th, the 6th Duke of Northumberland constructed an underground passage between the Victorian kitchens and the Dining Room. A hydraulic lift sent up food to be served at the dining table.

The tour finishes along the China Gallery in a former servant’s corridor, with its display of Meissen, Minton and other porcelain.

Once outside and through the middle gateway, is the entrance to the Great Kitchen which is built along the inside of the curtain wall. The original kitchens had been in the keep, but were moved here in 1750 to reduce the risk of fire and to prevent cooking odours permeating the principal rooms. They were extended as part of the massive restoration work commissioned by the 4th Duke and undertaken by Anthony Salvin in the 1850s. It was regarded as one of the most impressive and advanced kitchens in the country.

The kitchen was used by the family until 1940. They were reorganised when Alnwick Teacher Training College occupied the castle and many of the original features were either removed or covered over. St Cloud State University continued to use them in the 1970s. The kitchen and surrounding rooms have recently been restored and reopened.

The kitchen is impressive with its very high ceiling and central lantern to allow smoke and fumes to escape. Large windows allowed in plenty of light.

The massive roasting range was used to cook meat. It was dismantled in the 1960s, but some parts have survived and are slowly being restored. Set in the wall next to this is what is described as the ‘horseshoe oven’ from its shape - it has nothing to do with horseshoes! It was used as a pastry oven .

High on the wall, behind the wooded doors was a water tank with a small waterwheel that was used to provide the power needed to turn the roasting spits. The space was lined with horsehair to reduce the noise of the turning wheel. A valve controlled the water supply and speed of turning.

As well as the main kitchen, there were smaller and specialised rooms.

The cold larder had slate shelves and a constant flow of fresh air via grilles in the floor and door. The primitive refrigerator on the wall was lined with zinc and lead lined drawers to hold ice. This was either collected from the river if it froze over in a very cold winter or else would have been brought to the castle by train either from Norway or Russia and then stored in an ice house until needed.

Next to this was the stock larder, used to store dry goods.

The fish larder and meat loft was used to clean and prepare fish. Fish and meat could also be salted for preservation. Uncooked joints of meat, bacon and ham were hung from the meat loft, accessed by ladders.

The final room was a storeroom.

Across the corridor was the Cook’s sitting room and office. As well as preparing menus, the cook was responsible for all the kitchen staff.

The final room in the base of the Auditor’s tower, was the butchery which in June 2026 was still being restored. Meat was hung from hooks. It has a central workbench with salting basins around the walls.

One of the best views of the outside of the keep is from the outer bailey. The chapel is distinguishable by its lead roof.

The Percy lion is cared on the oustide of the Prudhoe Tower that now houses the library.

The State Coach dating from around 1825 is found in the coach house off the outer bailey.

Museums

There are three very different museums in the towers along the curain wall.

The Castle Museum is in the Postern Tower was founded by the 4th Duke to display Roman and early British antiquities found locally, as well as frescoes from Pompeii and relics from Ancient Egypt.

Constable's Tower houses the Percy Tenantry Volunteers exhibition on the top floor and the story of the local volunteer soldiers raised to repel Napoleon's planned invasion in the period 1798–1814.

The Regimental Museum of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers is in the Abbot’s Tower.

 

[Shyguy]

One of the must-visit castles in the UK.