Mind the Gap: The One With the Wizard and the Duchess

One of the things we really liked about this trip was that many of the places we visited aren’t that well known and so there weren’t that many people there. Alnwick Castle is one such place although the exterior of the castle may be recognizable to many since it was used for many of the scenes in the first two Harry Potter movies. It is the second largest inhabited castle in England and has been the home of the Percy family for more than 700 years.

Situated on a hill overlooking the River Aln, the castle occupies land claimed by both England and Scotland in the years following the Norman Conquest in 1066. Within the pre-conquest Saxon kingdom, the land had been part of the earldom of Northumbria. In 1093, the King of Scotland, Malcolm Canmore (son of Duncan who defeated Macbeth) was killed just north of the castle across the river. In 1174, another Scottish King, William the Lion, was captured to the west of the castle during an attempted siege. Alnwick Castle was built by a Norman magnate named Eustace in the early part of the 12^th century. Having gained favor in the service of Henry I, he married an heiress named Yves de Vescy. The Vescy name was adopted by their descendents.

During the medieval period Alnwick was subject to numerous raids by the Scots, the most substantial one in 1448. The castle was also a focus in the Wars of the Roses and changed hands five times from 1462 to 1464, finally ending up in Yorkist hands.

In the 1660s, the English Civil War brought considerable destruction to the surrounding town outside the castle walls and troops were lodge within the castle itself. In 1750, the Percy lands were divided and their estates in Northumberland were separated from those in other parts of the country. The heiress of the Northumberland piece was Elizabeth Seymour, a descendant of the Percys. With her husband Hugh, they became the first Duke and Duchess of Northumberland in 1760 and they focused their attention on restoring the castle at Alnwick which had been long neglected and was in a state of disrepair.

During the restoration much of the castle was repurposed and a number of “modern” amenities were added, turning the medieval fortress into a gothic palace. Above the middle gateway and octagon towers are carved figures that were added during the medieval period. On other towers are ones from the 18^th century.

close up of figures on top of one of the towers

The mid 19^th century saw another restoration by the fourth duke who did away with most of the gothic plasterwork interiors and shored up some of the castle’s structural weaknesses. A new square tower was added and was adorned with a sitting lion holding the Percy banner.

Close up of lion with banner

Much of the castle that exists today was built in the first half of the 14^th century, shortly after the castle was acquired by Henry Percy in 1309. The Percy family has a lengthy history in England and can trace its beginnings to William de Percy who came to England with William the Conqueror. In the mid 12^th century, the Percy heiress, Agnes, married Jocelin of Louvain, brother in law of Henry I. After the Percy family bought the castle, a number of large towers were added as were semi-circular towers to the keep and a pair of octagonal towers to the keep’s gatehouse. At the top of the gatehouse towers are the heraldic shields of the Percys.

tribute to Alnwick’s favorite son – Henry “Hotspur” Percy

The Barbican, one of the castle’s most distinctive features, was completed in 1475 and the “fetterlock” badge of the fourth earl was placed about its gateway. This picture is from the inside looking out.

After going through the gate we came to the courtyard and couldn’t help but notice a car sitting in the middle of the drive. Chip said something about the car spoiling the mood of the place and that he couldn’t believe they just let it sit there. It did seem rather out of place. Grumbling that we couldn’t get a decent shot of the courtyard without the car in it, we went into the castle’s state rooms. Since pictures were not allowed inside the castle, all of the interior pictures are from the guidebook.

The current interiors are the work of the Fourth Duke and the Roman architect Luigi Canina from the mid 1800s. The first room is the Guard Chambers. Impressively decked out with a large collection of pistols, powder flasks, swords and pikes, it is a tribute to the Percy Tenantry Volunteers (1798-1814), raised at the time when England feared an invasion by Napoleon. In another part of the castle (in the Constable’s Tower) is an exhibit of the Volunteers, based on real individuals from historical documents.

Once we got to the top of a large marble staircase (picture is from the top looking down), we started talking with one of the staff guides who were on the floor and he mentioned that the castle was still used as the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland and that if we looked out of the window we could see the Duchesses car as she had just returned from running errands. It was the same car we had seen on our way in – we kind of laughed to ourselves that we were complaining about the owner of the castle parking her car in front of her own house!

This was my favorite room in the castle – now this is a library!! During the late 16^th century, the Ninth Earl had built up one of the finest personal Renaissance libraries in England and subsequent generations contributed to the library’s collection.

The Saloon was the first room to be completely restored and includes a number of paintings of various generations of earls.

The Drawing Room was designed to complement The Saloon and both have silk wall coverings as well as lots of gold and bling.

This is a closeup of the ceiling of the Drawing Room - it is quite spectacular!

The Dining Room is very green and is lit by two candelabra that come down through traps doors in the ceiling.

The Chapel was added in the mid 19^th century, replacing the earlier medieval one which was located elsewhere on the grounds.

The castle features a tie-in with its movie history with a “dragons and knights” children’s area. Since we were there on a weekday, there were few children...

Or perhaps they were eaten by the dragon…

Alnwick, like most castles, sits on top of a hill with the town on one side and the River Aln on the other. The surrounding land is very pretty – and full of sheep!

The Percy estate contains over 100,000 acres of land which includes more than 100 tenanted farms.

One of the things we learned while chatting with some of the castle’s tour guides is that unlike many other historic places that utilize volunteers, Alnwick’s staff are paid employees. The estate is one of the largest employers in the area with more than 300 employees.