Alnwick Castle
 Castles |
Since 1309, the town has been the stronghold of the powerful Percy family, later to become the Dukes of Northumberland; it is the main market town on the River Aln and an excellent centre for touring. The formidable 11th century castle still owes its outline to the Normans, despite many alterations over the centuries. The castle barbican, the best surviving in Britain, together with its impressive gateway, topped with stone guardians, were added at a later date when the Percys took up residence. For 200 years Alnwick (pronounced Annick) was virtually the capital of northern England. From their castle beside the town the Percy family held the border against the Scots and ruled much of northern England. The fourth Duke transformed the medieval interiors into a Renaissance palace in the 19th century and filled it with treasures, including paintings by Canaletto, Titian and Van Dyck.
The castle parkland was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, a local gardener who gained world renown for his garden designs - the park is dotted around with romantic buildings, most of them follys. The Lion Bridge was designed to include a huge leadcast lion, the symbol of the Percy family.
The attractive town of Alnwick has a 15th century parish church at one end of town, while at the other end is a survivor of the town walls circa 1434, with its famous narrow Hotspur Gate. This was named after the most redoubtable of the Percys, Shakespeare's 'Harry Hotspur', who died at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. In 1816, grateful tenant farmers erected a column to the Percy family after the third Duke lowered their rents - the fourth Duke raised them again and the column became known as the 'Farmers Folly'. This Tenantry Column is surmounted by a stone lion, the Percy symbol.
To the north of Alnwick are the mighty feudal ruins of the 14th century Dunstanburgh Castle. With its enormous castle keep and extensive curtain wall, it appears to 'hang' on the clifftop like some dark forbidding bird of prey, 100 ft above sealevel. In the Middle Ages, seawater surrounded this spectacular site, which together with an inland moat made the eleven-acre fortress near impregnable against land attack. Even today it is only accessible by foot and remains a challenge to any visitor. More recently Alnwick Castle was used as the setting for Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter films.