Warkworth Castle, Northumberland

So here we are back at Warkworth Castle in Northumberland, it’s a great place to visit but isn’t so accessible for disabled people like many of these places. It’s owned/run by English Heritage, it was owned by the Percy family in Tudor times. You can see my previous post here.

Warkworth Castle archways, English Heritage, Northumberland

Parts of it are covered but others are open to the elements. I must say that the stonework looks in really good shape.

Warkworth Castle Fireplace,Northumberland, English Heritage

Below is quite a grand staircase.

Warkworth Castle, Grand Staircase, English Heritage, Northumberlandir

But the stairs below aren’t for the faint hearted.

Warkworth Castle Stairs, Northumberland

Below is a really lovely part of the castle which is roofed, it’s a sort of ante room and I can imagine people millling about in it chatting, and sitting on the window seats.

Warkworth Castle windows, Northumberland, English Heritage

I really admire vaulted rooms although I’m always a wee bit nervous of them, I have to remind myself they’ve been good for centuries so are unlikely to fall on me!

Vaulted room ,Warkworth Castle, Northumberland

I spotted this teeny wee iron lion rampant badge from the bottom of a flight of stairs, it seems to have been set above what looks like a stone sink, but it might have been a cupboard. The lion rampant was the Percy family’s emblem/badge, but is of course better known as Scotland’s emblem.

lion rampant (Percy), Warksworth Castle, Northumberland

 

Warkworth Castle,wall,archway etc

Below is a view of Warkworth village taken from just outside the castle. It’s a lovely wee place with plenty of eateries, but we were on our way further south so didn’t have much time to spend exploring the place, we spent so much time in the castle.

Warkworth village, Northumberland

Warkworth Castle, Northumberland, England

Warkworth Castle , Northumberland

A couple of weeks ago we were away in the north-east of England, just for a few days, seeing places we hadn’t visited before and catching up with old friends who live there. We had a great time, and the weather behaved itself beautifully, apart from heavy rain for about 15 minutes as we got to Seaton Delaval, an English National Trust property near Whitley Bay.

But it was Warkworth Castle that we visited first as we stopped off on our way down south. It’s a ruin, but a very impressive one. It was the home of the Percy family, I must admit that I didn’t realise that the Percys originated from Scotland with the first Earl being a son of King David of Scotland who gave it to his youngest son. That solves the mystery of why they have the Scottish symbol of the lion rampant everywhere. In fact when we were in a Carlisle bookshop I overheard two men talking about a local historian who believed that Scotland went all the way to the Lake District, and they agreed. One shopkeeper who enjoys holidays in Scotland told me that she thought that Scotland was like the Lake District – on steroids!

The setting of the castle couldn’t be better to my mind anyway, as you can see from the view below, through the remains of a large window.

Northumberland countryside, from Warkworth

There’s also a great view of the River Coquet from the other side of the castle.

River Coquet and Amble, Northumberland

There are really two separate ruins, with the one above being in much better condition than the one below as you can see.

Warkworth Castle , Northumberland

I took quite a lot of photos, but I’ll leave it at that for the moment. If you ever find yourself in Northumberland and you enjoy a good castle/ruin you should definitely visit Warkworth, the village at the foot of the castle is very quaint, obviously a destination as it has lots of eateries.