Castles and forts

Castles, forts, hillforts, fortifications and other similar attractions and places in Britain.  They may have been primarily built for defence – but may also be symbols of power.

Berry Pomeroy Castle

Berry Pomeroy Castle, Devon, haunted

Is Berry Pomeroy one of the most haunted castles in Britain? It seems that either the white or the blue woman-spirit will get you.  The White Lady is reputed to be the ghost of the beautiful Lady Margaret Pomeroy, imprisoned by her jealous (and less attractive) sister Eleanor for the crime of being in love […]

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The Loveliest Castle in the World?

Leeds Castle, Kent

This is Leeds Castle, nowhere near the city of Leeds in Yorkshire, but located some 240 miles to the south, in Kent.  It was once described as “the loveliest castle in the world” by historian Lord Conway and understandably, but slightly tediously, Leeds Castle ensures his words have not been forgotten – even if most

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Castle of the Pendragon?

Pendragon Castle, Mallerstang, Cumbria, England

The River Eden begins life high on the moors above the valley of Mallerstang.  It’s a remote place, harshly beautiful.  The water bubbles northward on its journey to the Solway Firth, flanked in these parts by Wild Boar Fell to the west and Mallerstang Edge to the east.  Alongside the Eden in the valley bottom

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Stokesay Castle

Stokesay Castle, Shropshire - the Stuart gatehouse and south tower.

Lovely little Stokesay Castle isn’t really a castle at all; certainly, no self-respecting potential besieger would take it as a serious hindrance.  Described by English Heritage as “the finest and best-preserved fortified medieval manor house in England”, Stokesay actually looks like someone has taken a grand old barn and added interesting bits to it, one

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Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral, near Framwellgate Bridge

Durham’s story is a fascinating piece of the story of England.  It is partly a tale of saints and kings and moving bones, and it begins back in the 7th century. The founding of Durham Cathedral Actually, it was mostly Cuthbert’s fault – with some help from the Danes, a lost cow and perhaps a

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Clifford’s Tower

Clifford's Tower, 13th century quadrilobate keep of York Castle

Here is Clifford’s Tower, probably the most significant remaining part of the medieval castle of York.  Once at the centre of government for the north of England, Clifford’s Tower was looking a little worse for wear when I last visited.  Since then, English Heritage has installed a roof deck, giving wonderful views over York’s skyline

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Segedunum – the end of the Wall

Segedunum, Wallsend, shipbuildiing

What’s at the end of the wall?  The wall’s end?  Walls – solid boundaries designed to keep people in – or out.  There are famous walls, like the Berlin Wall, the Great Wall of China, the fantasy Wall in Game of Thrones or even the one that Shirley Valentine talks to (“Hello, wall.”).  In the

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Castell Henllys

Castell Henllys, ‘Castle of the old court’, recreated Iron Age village

Castell Henllys (‘Castle of the old court’) is just off the A487, between Newport and Cardigan and is a recreated ancient Celtic hill-fort. Park your chariot (or time machine) in the maes parcio (car park) and carefully follow the path through woodland by the pretty Nant (river) Duad.  Here there be bats, otters and more

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Chirk Castle

Chirk Castle near Wrexham

Chirk is a striking place, a wonderfully preserved late 13th century fortress on the Welsh/English border and home to the Myddelton family from 1595 for the next 400 years.  Kids from 8 to 80 will enjoy the armoury displays and hands-on stuff in the dungeons, with the atmosphere being enhanced by a couple of time-travellers

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Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

Radiation Warning

Scattered about Britain (and, presumably, the world) are a number of sites, some open to the public, which had a role in the Cold War.  The “secret nuclear bunker” at Kelvedon Hatch in Essex was built in the early 1950s as an operations centre for a huge radar and command/control project known as ROTOR.  It

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Caerlaverock Castle

Caerlaverock Castle, Dumfries

Here is a fortress on the edge.  Caerlaverock is a mighty Scottish stronghold on the banks of the Solway Firth, in the border battleground of the two old protagonists, Scotland and England, and which finally came to grief in the civil war of the 17th century.  On first seeing a picture of this most photogenic

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A visit to Scotney Castle

There’s a ruined castle in the valley bottom, beyond the grand, Victorian, house.  A round, machiolated, tower peeks through multi-coloured shrubs and trees.  It draws the eye through the garden, overwhelming the desire to linger amongst the flowers.  Closer in, down the hill, and the heady scent from rhododendrons and azaleas is almost overpowering.  The

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Portchester Castle

Portchester's Roman walls

People are walking their dogs around the ancient walls of Portchester Castle.  A cricket match is taking place on the green.  Some scruffy kids run up and down the ditch outside, whooping.  Anglers drape their lines optimistically into Portsmouth Harbour and gaze at passing ships with the old Royal Navy dockyard beyond.  It’s a peaceful

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Visit the Tower of London

Tower of London

The Tower of London has been sitting on the north bank of the Thames, watching the tides of a great city ebb and flow, for around a thousand years.  The city has grown up around it and it is part of it; it is impossible to imagine London without the Tower.  Think of all that

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