A Weekend of Castles: Alnwick

 Yesterday we drove to Bamburgh Castle on the North Sea coastline. We spent the night in Alnwick, a great little market town. No North Sea today, but our day does include both Alnwick Castle and Alnwick Castle Gardens.

Alnwick Castle dates from Norman times. This castle has been owned by a member of the Percy family for the past 700 years, going all the way back to 1309 when it was bought by Henry Percy. The castle saw countless raids by the Scots, survived numerous sieges and civil wars, and even played a role during the Second World War, housing girls from the Newcastle Church High School who were evacuated here. Since 1981 part of the castle has been used by American students of St. Cloud State University, Minnesota. This castle is also among the most filmed locations in northern England. Scenes from Becket, Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves, Elizabeth, and The Dark Knight were filmed here. Perhaps more famously, however, are the scenes from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as it is known here in Britain (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the U.S.), and Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. Alnwick is currently owned by Ralph Percey, 12th Duke of Northumberland, and it is still a family home. Because of this, and the priceless art collections inside, no photography was allowed in the interior. Suffice it to say that the state rooms in this castle are wonderful. Here are some favourite photos of the castle and grounds.

Castle gates

This is deep inside the castle. On the very left is the entrance to the state rooms.

We came across some "characters" whilst we were inside this castle.

Yikes, a smoke snorting dragon! That's a wagon handle in front
of the woman and in the wagon......the dragon's egg!

Broomstick riding lessons were being given on the day we visited. This was huge with the children.
Imagine taking broomstick flying lessons in nearly the exact same spot where Harry, Hermoine, and Ron
had their first lessons at Hogwarts! What fun!

Some of the very best views of the castle were from outside the gates.

After exploring this wonderful castle we spent several hours walking through the gardens.

This fountain was just magnificent! Can you see the tractors near the steps on each
side? There were 8 or so of these available for the children to ride around the
base of the fountain. They had a great time picking up buckets full of pebbles
or water from the fountains and dumping them over one another and the ground.

We had a really nice day at Alnwick Castle. I would have to say it is definitely one of my favourite British castles. Our hosts at the guesthouse we were staying in recommended one more castle to visit before we head west to Whitehaven tomorrow. Getting there involves a walk of about 3/4 of a mile along the sea. Sounds like fun!