Spofforth Castle: North Yorkshire, England

Number  22 - Spofforth Castle

So far, on this quest, Spofforth is right up there in my top 3 (along with Stirling and Nunney castles).

The castle is in the middle of nowhere, if you weren't seeking it out, I doubt you'd just come across it. It's managed by the English Heritage and apparently building started in the 13th century. It was essentially built to be a home and manor house for a powerful family in the area.

We parked in the village and wandered up the path to find it. It is most definitely a ruin, but a beautiful one and you can still walk round. 

There are some steps which means you can access the lower ground floor. It was fun imagining where the inhabitants would have had dinner and things.

It was amazing to see that some of the beautiful detail round the windows still existed, I love that kind of thing. How does it survive through all the battles?

 

While we were having a look round we came across a hole in the wall. Inside we found a little note, which said 

'Dear Fairys, I'm in year  four now. The reason I'm writing is because I haven't sened a note for a while. From Pernille.' Just so you can see the proof, here is a photo of it:

 

How absolutely adorable! I used to love the idea that fairies and gnomes lived in structures like this and spread their magic around, and little Pernille is very much thinking that too. We probably should have written back, but we didn't have a pen.... or any fairy dust.

Cost: free

Hints and tips: Wear some sturdy shoes as the ground is quite uneven and could be muddy in wet weather.

Knaresborough Castle: North Yorkshire, England

Number 21 - Knaresborough castle

We visited Knaresborough castle the day after staying at Lumley castle overnight. So we were on a high and felt like royalty.

Knaresborough castle was in the middle of the town, which looked quite sweet, but with a 6 hour drive ahead of us, we didn't have time to mess around.

Large parts of the castle can be accessed from the high street. The only bit you need to pay for is to go into the tower. We decided against this but I'm sure it's very good.

Knaresborough was a community building, providing a safe place for people to go when they were under attack, and they also made decisions there that affected residents of the town. It was a Centre for Justice, which all sounds very nice. At one point in history, the MPs wanted the castle dismantled, but the people from the town managed to persuade them to keep the King's Tower and use it as  a prison.

It's at the top of a large cliff and overlooks the river Nidd with really lovely views. The whole site was quite small, with a lovely patch of garden. So you don't need to allocate loads of time to it, but it's worth seeing.

There were some enormous ravens chained to the wall. The sign said it was for their own good, as they are DANGEROUS, and we were told not to feed them. They looked happy enough.

Costs: Well we saw most of it and wandered round for free. Not sure how much it is to go inside the tower.

Hints and tips: Don't feed the ravens!

Want to find out about more of our castle adventures, take a look at my blog.

Ripley Castle: North Yorkshire, England

Number 20 - Ripley Castle


I have a friend who's surname is Ripley, so I was already open to loving this place whatever it looked like. Luckily I was not disappointed, Ripley Castle is really beautiful. Our visit took place in July 2012 on the way back from staying the night at Lumley Castle. We were hoping for sun but it was a bit grey and cloudy. This did not, however, dampen our spirits.

It's in a stunning part of the country and the village contains lots of sweet little independent butchers and florists. We found a parking spot and went in. 

Ripley castle is very much a 'house' castle, looking like a stately home. Apparently it's been like this since the 15th century.

As we were time limited we decided not to go inside, but instead to explore the grounds. There is a beautiful lake which we walked half way round. However, at this point quite heavy rain started so we had to hot foot it back to shelter.

One of my favourite elements of the castle was the walled garden with a whole variety of plants. 

 

Places like this always remind me of watching 'The Secret Garden' when I was little and constantly trying to find doorways in my own garden that lead somewhere I'd never been.... I didn't have much luck. But then, I didn't live at Ripley Castle!

After admiring all the plants and flowers (Chloe took a shine to a rather unusual piece of tree bark) we went to have a nice slice of cake and drink in the tea rooms, to keep our energy up for the long drive that lay ahead of us.

Cost: Just over £10 for castle and gardens and £7 for the gardens on their own.

Hints and tips: I am sure the house is really lovely inside and well worth a look. Picnicing by the side of the lake would be a lovely way to spend an afternoon (minus the rain). As Ripley hosts weddings and things it may be worth checking whether it's free when you visit or you might be restricted in what you can see.

Barnard Castle: County Durham

Number 19 - Barnard Castle

After staying at Lumley castle overnight we set off in the morning and headed for Barnard castle. It's managed by the English Heritage and sits in a lovely little market town. We parked a bit of a walk away, but it wasn't a problem as there were lots of things to look at as we pootled along.

From the outside the castle doesn't look like there's that much to see and do, but once you get in it's actually really big with lots of the ruin still in tact. We were pleasantly surprised and actually spent quite a while there.

It was built in the 12th century and overlooks the Tees Gorge, so lots of fantastic views. You could climb stairs that took you to the top of the various turrets.

There was also a lovely herb and flower garden which Chloe loved as she is a keen gardener.

There were swathes of green fields, and crossing them took you to other parts of the castle and a rather lovely drawbridge etc. It must have been really huge when it was all in one piece.

Costs: £5 approx for adults

Hints and tips: Don't be deceived by first impressions, you get a lot of castle for your money!

Lumley Castle: Chester-lee-Street, England

Number 18 - Lumley Castle

Lumley Castle was a special one as we were staying there overnight. Us, sleeping in a castle - the dream has become reality! We took advantage of a Groupon deal for a discounted stay there. It was only once we hit the road that we realised we had a crazy distance to travel. Luckily we'd planned to see castles on the way up and way back to make the most of it.

By the time we got to Lumley, the journey up had already taken us to Ashby de la Zouche, Bolsover, Sandal and Pontefract. So we were tired and ready for bed - ideally a 4 poster bed.

We turned off a roundabout and drove up an incredibly long driveway, when we saw Lumley in the distance we just started clapping and whooping, it looked like paradise.

Lumley castle was built in the 1300s and is named after the man who created it, Ralph Lumley. Unfortunately Ralph didn't get to enjoy his amazing home as he was involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the King. It all went wrong, he was captured and executed. So me and Chloe were determined to enjoy it on his behalf.

When we arrived there was a prom in full flow with lots of limos arriving and puffy dresses on show. We stood there critiquing people's outfits (less is more etc etc) and it all made me feel very old, even though I am actually young and cool, obviously.

Checking into our delightful little room was lovely, it was in a cottage round the edge of the castle. We had a twin room, with very posh and luxurious furnishings. The towel holder was something to behold, a little gold/brass woman with a very posh toilet:

After that we went for a wander round the grounds which were beautiful. The castle itself was really big and most of it was used as the hotel and restaurant. Staff were in medieval dress which was a nice touch. Lots of basques and art work to look at too.

As the prom was in full swing we decided to get room service. We went for the fanciest thing on the menu... a burger and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. It came in huge silver domes so we felt very posh eating it on our beds.

Cost: You'd need to stay or eat at Lumley to get access to it, so costs would vary.

Hints and tips: as Lumley is an event venue, maybe check on their website or call them to see if any other events are happening when you want to visit. As this could restrict the bits of the castle you can see.

Want to know why we're visiting this castle? Find out more about our challenge.

Ashby De La Zouche: Leicestershire, England

Number 14 - Ashby de la Zouche

Asby de la Zouche was our first castle stop on a mammoth 6 hour road trip to County Durhamm to stay in Lumley Castle overnight. We thought it would be sensible and productive to break up the drive with some other castles.

As we arrived as the castle, the heavens opened. I've never known rain like it. Drenched like never before, we ran around Ashby de la Zouche. Slipping and sliding across the grass, we still decided it would be a good idea to climb the tower. Luckily I had packed my husbands cagoule or I would have been in real trouble. 

The people manning the English Heritage office clearly thought we were mad to attempt a visit in the torrential rain.

 

Despite the weather, the castle was really pretty, a different style to others we'd visited recently. I loved the tall walls and window frames. 

It was built as a manor house in the 12th century and reached castle status in the 15th century. I don't know how it 'reached castle status'... maybe that is something I should be looking up.

 

Thorough investigation was tough as we couldn't see more than about two feet in front of us. I've since discovered there was an underground passage, sad to have missed it but it was probably flooded anyway. 

 

Cost: £4.70 for adults

Hints and tips: The roads in Asby de la Zouche are quite narrow, so big cars will need to be careful.