A Weekend of Castles: Dunstanburgh

The Great Gatehouse

When we planned our weekend trip to Alnwick and Bamburgh we had no intentions of stopping at Dunstanburgh. In all honesty, pretty much every town in the north of England has it's own castle or castle ruin. Our hosts at the guesthouse insisted that Dunstanburgh was something special and not to be missed. They gave us directions on how to get to this castle. There are no roads here, just a nice walk from the car park along the beach.
Dustanburgh is an intriguing castle. No one really knows why it was built. It does not stand in a place of strategic military importance. Nor is it near any local villages or along any sort of main road. Historians know that it was built by the Earl of Lancaster, who was fiercely opposed to King Edward II, his cousin. Just down the beach is Bamburgh Castle, Edward II's stronghold. Speculation is that Dustanburgh was built to intimidate the King and outshine the King's castles.

Looking down inside the gatehouse.

There were steps leading to the top of the great gatehouse. I just knew
Scott would not be satisfied until he climbed up there!

The castle is nearly surrounded on three sides by fields. On the fourth side is the North Sea.

The Lilburn Tower - set on the highest point

Entrance through the gatehouse

We spent an hour or so walking through the ruins of this castle before heading back to the car. We did see some interesting sights along our walk as well.

Meet the Neighbors

This area is filled with field after field of rapeseed. The brilliant yellows were on
full display this weekend!

The beach here is beautiful and wide at low tide. 

WWII pillboxes dot the dunes along the beach. You can see the castle ruins in the background.

We have really enjoyed our relaxed weekend exploring some of the castles in the northeast of England. The three were quite different from one another and each spectacular in it's own way. We sure hope you have enjoyed them as well!