At the end of August, I visited Warkworth Castle in Northumberland. There are a couple of attractions here at the castle that I was unable to visit due to the coronavirus pandemic, but visitors could walk around the castle grounds and explore some of the keep in a one-way system. Warkworth Castle are the ruins of a castle that was built in the 12th century, replacing an earlier timber castle that could not keep the Scottish out of this part of England. The settlement here would date to the 8th century. The castle may have been built by Henry II, but it became property of the Percy family who controlled a lot of this area.
The castle is moated, and visitors enter via a bridge. English Heritage have maintained the castle since 1984. The castle has a lot of history, and it was in scenes in Shakespeare's play "Henry IV".
The emblem of the Percy family is the lion pictured above on the ruins of one of the towers.
Part of the interior of the main keep could be explored with a one-way system in place with visitors able to visit rooms in a particular order.
From the keep, I got some decent views of the grounds.
The interior of the keep includes various chambers, a cellar with various storage rooms, a kitchen, and a chapel. In the centre of the keep is a light well, an unusual feature for castles of the day. The water would collect here and run into a water tank in the cellar, and it would be used to clear the garderrobes.
After visiting the castle, I walked around the moat for views of the imposing tower.
I hope to visit Warkworth Castle in the future when it is open and safe to visit.
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