Castles to Visit in England

England

Alnwick Castle

Alnwick Castle is a castle and stately home in Alnwick, Northumberland, England, UK and the residence of the Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest, and renovated and remodelled a number of times.

It is a Grade I listed building with spectacular gardens.

The castle has been used in many films and television programmes.

Arundel Castle

Arundel Castle is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel under William the Conqueror. From the 11th century onward, the castle has been in the family of the Duke of Norfolk, and is still the principal seat of the Howard family. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is a Grade I listed building.

The keep and gatehouse have been open to the public since 1800 and the gardens since 1854. Today you can visit the keep, castle, chapel and gardens. There is a Restaurant and a Gift Shop, and a range of events in the grounds along with educational and private tours. The castle is also available as a film location and for Corporate Events, Conferences, Pivate Functions and Banquets.

Bamburgh Castle

Bamburgh Castle is an imposing medieval castle located on the coast at Bamburgh in Northumberland, England. It is a Grade I listed building.

As an important English outpost, the castle was the target of raids from Scotland. From 1096 it was a royal castle.

In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, it became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery, at the end of a nine-month siege by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. The Forster family of Northumberland provided the Crown with twelve successive governors of the castle for some 400 years until the Crown granted ownership to Sir John Forster. Spanning nine acres of land on its rocky plateau high above the Northumberland coastline Bamburgh is one of the largest inhabited castles in the country. It is open to the public.

Belvoir Castle (UK)

Belvoir Castle is a stately home in the English county of Leicestershire, overlooking the Vale of Belvoir. Belvoir castle has been the home of the Manners family for five hundred years, and seat of the dukes of Rutland for over three centuries. A corner of the castle is still used as the family home of the Manners family and remains the seat of the Dukes of Rutland. The present Castle is the fourth building to have stood on the site since Norman times.. It is a Grade I listed building. The castle is open to the public and contains many works of art.

The castle is open to the public. Highlights include lavish staterooms, the most famous being the Elizabeth Saloon (named after the wife of the 5th Duke), the Regents Gallery and the Roman inspired State Dining Room.The castle sits in a vast estate of almost 15,000 acres (120 km²). The landscaped grounds, nearer the castle, are also open and the Root Houses, built by the fifth Duke's wife, can also be seen. The present Duchess is restoring Belvoir Gardens, which includes the Secret Valley Garden and the Rustic Summerhouse of 1800.

Broughton Castle

Broughton Castle is a medieval manor house located in the village of Broughton. It was built as a manor house by Sir John de Broughton in 1300 at a location where the confluence of three streams created a natural site for a moated manor.

Broughton fell into decay in the 19th century, but was eventually rescued by Frederick Fiennes, 16th Lord Saye and Sele, who brought in the prominent Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. It is still the home of the Saye and Sele family.

It is open the public. EntryFee charged. Facilities include Washrooms, shop and cafe on site. Pub in Broughton village within a short walk.

Dover Castle

Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history

During the reign of Henry II the castle began to take recognisable shape. The inner and outer baileys and the great Keep belong to this time. The keep was one of the last rectangular keeps ever built. In 1216, a group of rebel barons invited Louis VIII of France to come and take the English crown. He had some success breaching the walls but was unable ultimately to take the castle.

The castle, secret tunnels and surrounding land are now owned by English Heritage and the site is a major tourist attraction. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is officially head of the castle, in his conjoint position of Constable of Dover Castle, and the Deputy Constable has his residence in Constable's Gate.

Grimsthorpe Castle

Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire. It is not a castle in the strict sensebut a stately home dating from Tudor times. Much of the Tudor house can still be seen today..Largely because of later alterations it looks like a real castle with its massive and martial towers and outlying pavilions recalling the bastions of a great fortress in classical dress - through the large windows at ground level are a give away

It lies within a 3,000 acre (12 km²) park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown.

It is open to the public. Facilities include cycle hire, adventure playground, events (antique fairs, lectures etc) ,park tours, group visits, shop and tea room.

Castle Howard

Castle Howard is not a castle but a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) north of York. Most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh. It is a Grade I listed House with spectacular Landscaped gardens

Castle Howard has been the home of part of the Howard family for more than 300 years.It is one of the largest country houses in England, with a total of 145 rooms.

The castle is familiar to television and movie audiences as the fictional "Brideshead", both in Granada Television's 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and a two-hour 2008 remake for cinema. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England heritage group.

Old Wardour

Wardour Castle is a ruined castle located near Tisbury in the English county of Wiltshire.

The original castle was partially destroyed during the Civil War. It is managed by English Heritage who have designated it as a grade I listed building, and is open to the public. It is open too the public. It lies within the ground of New Wardaour, a private house.

The old castle became a fashionable romantic ruin, and in the 18th century was incorporated into the landscaped grounds of the New Wardour House (there is no public access to New Wardour House or grounds).

There is an English Heritage audio tour, included in the ticket price, tells of Old Wardour’s past and the fighting it saw during the Civil War.

The castles, old and new, have been featured in several motion pictures.

Powderham Castle

Powderham Castle was built between 1390 and 1420 by Sir Philip Courtenay, and has undergone several phases of expansion and restoration, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, and most notably by James Wyatt in the 1790s. The Powderham Estate, in which it is set, runs down to the western shores of the estuary of the River Exe between the villages of Kenton and Starcross.

The Castle remains in the hands of his descendant, the Earl of Devon. It is open to the public. It has a deer park, educational visits to the kitchens, and farm shop. It hosts wedding receptions, childrens’parties, corporate events and private functions. It also sells mooring licenses on the River Exe.There are frequent events during the summer. The house allegedly has a haunted landing.

Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle stands on the east bank of the River Medway, in Rochester, Kent. It is one of the best-preserved castles of its kind in the UK. There has been a fortification on this site since Roman times (c AD43), though it is the keep of 1127 and the Norman castle which can be seen today. With the invention of gunpowder other types of defence became more appropriate, and the military centre of the Medway Towns moved to Chatham.

The Tower of London

The Tower lies just outside the City of London, and is separated from the eastern edge of the City by the open space known as Tower Hill where public executions used to take place.

The Tower of London is a concentric castle with two sets of curtain walls and a moat, with numerous buildings within the inner walls, dominated by the White Tower The White Tower is the original square fortress built by William the Conqueror in 1077 with a bailey. The tower remains largely unchanged but the baily has been replaced by two rings of castle walls.

The Tower has served as a fortress, a royal palace and a prison, a place of execution and torture, an armoury, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Many famous prisoners have enclosed here, especially state prisoners charged with treason.

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Warkworth Castle

Warkworth Castle is a ruined, although well preserved castle, situated in Warkworth, Northumberland, England on a defensive mound in a loop of the River Coquet. It is a Grade I listed building.

Warkworth Castle was originally constructed as a wooden fortress, some time after the Norman Conquest. It was later ceded to the Percy family, who held it, and resided there on and off until the 16th century. During this period the castle was rebuilt with sandstone curtain walls and was reinforced.

The imposing keep, overlooking the village of Warkworth was added during the late 14th century. It was refurbished by the Dukes of Northumberland in the late 19th century.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world and the Official Residence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Its rich history spans almost 1000 years, dating back before the time of William the Conqueror.

The Castle covers an area of about 5 hectares (13 acres) and contains magnificent State Apartments furnished with treasures from the Royal Collection, St George's Chapel (the burial place of 10 monarchs), and Queen Mary's Dolls House, a masterpiece in miniature.

It is now a major tourist attraction, parts of it open to the public. During the winter months an additional five rooms, known collectively as the Semi-State Rooms, are included in the visitor route.