Northumberland Day 6 - Coastal Castles
The weather of Day 6 was gorgeous! We planned to visit three Coastal Castles. The first castle was Warkworth Castle that was situated on a hilltop in Warkworth, a naturally fortified village in a loop of the river Coquet, less than a mile from the Northumberland coast. We walked through the little village, checked the location of the castle, and had a nice tea time at Bertram's cafe and courtyard before our castle adventure.
I had Cream Tea and J had bacon sandwiches and tea. My fruit scones were soft, moist, and delightful. It seemed that J enjoyed his simple but decent sandwiches, telling me that the brown bread was very good a couple of times. The cafe was bright and open. We had a nice time there. I wished I was hungry enough to try their cakes too. They looked nice.
While the date and circumstances of the castle's foundation remain unclear, Warkworth Castle had already been around in the 12th century. According to a charter of between 1157 and 1164, King Henry II granted to Roger fitz Eustace, the constable of Newcastle Castle, Newcastle upon Tyne according to the first written record of Warkworth Castle.
The castle became a powerful Percy family's residence between the 14th and 17th century, but since the late 16th century, the building management had gone in trouble sometimes. When the 9th Earl was arrested and imprisoned because he was a part of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the castle was then leased to someone else, who let the buildings deteriorate further. The Percy showed their interest in the property again and rebuilt the demolished castle wall and conducted massive excavations between the late 18th and 19th centuries. They also tried to restore the whole tower, which didn't complete after all.
Thanks to the castle's hundreds of year up and down history, the majestic cross-shaped keep still stands almost intact and the Lion Tower retains the Percy's glory.
Dunstanburgh Castle was the second castle to visit. We drove to Craster, a small fishing village where a car park for the castle was located. No car access direct to the castle. About one and a half mile walk is required to get there. It was a straight and flat grass path with beautiful coast views. Easy! However, there was nowhere to hide from the sun. We have gotten more suntan.
Dunstanburgh Castle, one of the largest castles in Northumberland, was built in the 14th century by Earl Thomas of Lancaster. At that time the relations between him and King Edward II had became hostile. The size of the castle was said as a form of the Earl's rivalry against neighbor castles under Edward II such as Warwick Castle. However, the Earl's rebellion was defeated and he was executed in 1322. He had never reached the castle. Anyway, the castle had been returned to Earl Thomas's younger brother Henry, who succeeded him as Earl of Lancaster. Although it had played a role as a Lancastrian stronghold in the Wars of the Roses, Dunstanburgh Castle was in decline between the late 15th and the 16th centuries due to not only the massive buildings to maintain but also strategically less importance because of the poor location far from the Scottish border and the main road.
The current remains are mainly a part of huge gatehouse and bailey. Inside of the gate was pretty much empty.
Still the ruins on the coast created dramatic scenery. We sat down near the Lilburn Tower and enjoyed watching the sea and green fields for a while peacefully.
When we were walking back to Craster, many cows came down to the pass. We have got used to sharing a space with sheep or cows, which is a daily practice in England, by now.
Craster is not only a gateway to the castle but also famous for its kippers, made from pickled herring. We couldn't leave the village without kippers. We picked up two kippers at L. Robson & Sons, a fourth generation family business specializing in the traditional method of oak smoking kippers and salmon.
I wondered how many kippers were relaxing in the smoke house...
Our third castle of the day was Bamburgh Castle!
Built on outcrop of basalt rock, the castle looked stunning!
The original Bamburgh Castle was built in the 6th century, when the Anglo Saxon Kings of Northumbria chose Bamburgh as their Royal capital. The muscular keep was built in the Era of the Normans, which is still the center of the castle today. The castle had played a role of a palace for monarchs between the 12th and 15th centuries, but during the War of the Roses, it became the first castle (home of King Henry VI of the red roses of Lancaster at that time) in England to be destroyed by gunfire. The castle had been used for several purposes, including a hospital and a coastguard station in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, when the castle had become on sale due to financial difficulties, William Armstrong bought it with the vision of establishing a convalescent home for retired gentlemen and spent more than one million pounds to restore the derelict castle. That's why the castle had both the medieval and Victorian charms!
It was very interesting to found out that the castle was another project by Willam Armstrong whose Cragside was our favorite place during this trip. The village of Bamburg was on foot of the castle. We were going to have an early dinner at a popular seafood restaurant there but unfortunately the tables had been booked for the day. We drove back to Alnwick.
We started with papadum (thin crispy flatbread) and four kinds of condiments. I liked one that tasted sweet and fruity like mango chutney.
We ordered a kind of chicken curry, a kind of tandoori lamb and Palak Paneer (spinach curry with cheese) with rice and a coconut naan. Everything was good. Certainly we both have got so full!
To be continued...
