Dunstanburgh Castle

DUNSTANBURGH CASTLE 


ADMISSION: Adult - £4.00, Child - £2.40, Concession - £3.60 (2012 Prices), National Trust Members: Free

Early on in the New Year, the husband and I decided to use the National Trust memberships we received for Christmas and visit Dunstanburgh Castle, our toddler in tow. Dunstanburgh Castle lies on a beautiful part of the Northumberland coast, between Craster and Embleton. 

In fact, on a clear day, you can see across the bay between Dunstanburgh Castle and Beadnell Bay. It is one of the largest castles in Northumberland but also one of the worst preserved. It is pretty much ruins, but impressive ruins at that. There has been some kind of settlement or fort there since prehistoric times but the castle ruins there today date from the 14th century. It was built by Thomas, the 2nd Earl of Lancaster, work started in 1313, but when the Earl was executed in 1322, the ownership of the castle passed to John of Gaunt, who finished the castle. John of Gaunt was an ancestor to the The Tudors, Henry VII was descended from one of his illegitimate children. During the Wars of the Roses the castle was held for the house of Lancaster in 1462 and 1464. The damage done during these battles was not repaired and so the castle soon fell into disrepair. More damage was done as the local people were left ungoverned and so kept thieving the stone to build their own houses! If you look in the local area, there are some examples of the same stone in other buildings. 

It is a scheduled ancient monument and is a grade 1 listed building. It lies within the Northumberland Coast area of Outstanding Beauty. 

The castle lies just under 2 miles from Craster, which is a small fishing village and has a lovely harbour itself. If you want to see Dunstanburgh Castle, you start here:

We parked at the car park as you enter the village and it helpfully had a rather tasty and clean looking burger van, which started our walk off nicely. We had bacon sandwiches and our toddler had a flapjack. 

The walk was about 1 1/2 miles along the coastline. There wasn't a proper footpath but my husband thought we could do it with the buggy (an old model, slightly rickety Mama's and Papa's stroller - so not an all-terrian buggy) because over the years people have trodden a path in through the fields. It seems bizarre to me that such a prominent tourist attraction, visible even from the coastal route (very popular with tourists), has absolutely no access from the road! I've never seen anything like it down South and it just highlights to me how much more untouched everything is in the North. It was a lovely walk, slightly bumpy in places for the buggy - especially in the field with the sheep. Still nothing taxing for the casual walker, even my one year old managed a good mile of it before admitting defeat. She thoroughly enjoyed it, running up and down the little hills and jumping on molehills!

This is toddler and I halfway through the walk, with the castle in the distance.

This is us getting nearer to the castle, as you can see - no paths to speak of! As we came up to that ridge in the distance, the field ahead of us was so full of sheep that we had to put our toddler back in the buggy. The sheep only added to her enjoyment though, there was a look of pure joy in her face as one bold sheep came right up to us and looked at her before emitting the most feeble "BAAA" I've ever heard, my toddler erupted into a furry of giggles. 

As we got nearer to the castle, we realised it was closed. Our National Trust handbooks and the National Trust website said otherwise. Shame on you National Trust! My husband was quite annoyed that a ruin could be "closed", he thought it was a bit of a travesty considering you could just climb up the rocks and walk into it on the other side with nothing to stop you. 

"It's ridiculous to lock up a ruin" he said. 

"We've come all this way. What a disappointment" I exclaimed. 

"Just climb over the fence and look at the plaque" my husband suggested. 

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"Well there's no-one around..." 

So I hopped over the rather low wooden fence and had a look at the plaque. Seriously National Trust, if you want us to wait until you deign to open your attraction, at least build a more intimidating looking fence! I would just like to add a disclaimer here that I am not suggesting anyone break into historical attractions outside of designated opening hours - we are paid up National Trust members which covers the ethics of the price of admission (see above) and it WAS the designated opening hours, just National Trust had decided not to open. So the next thing I knew, my husband had lifted the buggy over the fence and was climbing over himself and wheeling the buggy into the deserted castle ruins! 

I know it's not the most out there thing to do but it felt kind of exciting to visit the ruins when there was no-one else around. It was very atmospheric. We only saw one other trespasser in the distance, sitting and watching the birds with his National Trust Binoculars (free with 2012 membership!) 

This is where you enter through, the former castle keep. 

It was a little eerie, hearing only the caw of the seagulls overhead and the loud whistle of the winter wind through the grass. Looking round, the castle was bigger than first appeared and from the inside, with the long grass it looked a bit like something from The Lord of the Rings. 

The toddler and I taking a stroll within the castle walls: 

We didn't stay too long, mainly because it felt really spooky, the landscape was dramatic and quite desolate, the wind was whistling through the ruins and within the courtyard area and you could not be seen by anyone. I quite enjoyed the the romanticism of it all, the ruin against the dramatic coastal backdrop but the husband was not impressed, he prefers working castles like that at Bamburgh and Alnwick. They will be reviewed in later blog posts. 

In case you were interested in the architectural merits of the castle, I'll write a bit about it. The twin-towered gatehouse is the main block of the castle. It has two D-shaped towers and is a pretty advanced example of 14th century castle design. Each tower is 4 stories high. It had a high standard of masonry and has comfortable residential chambers. The large grassy area in the middle of the castle has been thought by experts to have been designed to billet troops. 

This is the view across the bay towards Beadnell Bay, an area I know quite well:

This is at the far end of the castle, directly opposite where you enter from the National Trust booth. On the other side of the tower is a cliff face overlooking the bay. It's not a steep cliff however, my husband has told me that people are known to climb up it to take a look at the castle for free. 

It is a shame the castle is so ruined, I bet it was an impressive building back in it's day:

The walk back was not as fun because the toddler had decided that she was more interested in being within eyeshot of the sheep than making the descent. On our way back we encountered a few hikers and casual dog walkers on their way up, but it was not as populated a walk as you might think. Whether it's like that in the summer remains to be seen. 

Overall, I think it's worth a visit, but mainly for the peaceful coastal walk from Craster. The castle itself is impressive from a distance, it makes for a dramatic picture on a windswept day. However, I am not sure that it was worth paying £4 entrance if you aren't already a National Trust member because within the castle walls there is really isn't much extra to see. The views over to Beadnell Bay were nice but I'd suggest that unless you are a castle enthusiast or a keen amateur photographer that you take the walk up to the castle, but admire only it's exterior.