Number 5: Farleigh Hungerford Castle
Having visited Nunney earlier on the same day, we headed off to Farleigh Castle. However the snow and ice delayed our journey and we got there very close to closing time. I think the woman felt sorry for us so she let us in for free to run around, literally.
It was November 2010 and the weather was dreadful. We were all wrapped up and had to move quickly. It was a shame as Farleigh Hungerford was bigger than we thought with lots of bits we could have pondered over, but we were on a deadline.
It was set in a really beautiful area in the valley of the river Frome, near Bath. The views were great and you could see it was well positioned to see where the enemy was coming from.
It was built in the 14th century but then lived in for 300 years by the Hungerford family. They had a pretty gruesome past and you could learn about it with an audio guide, not that we had time for that on this visit!
I really liked the chapel where there was artwork and tombs you could explore. Also the crypt with a barrel load of coffins, all a bit grim.
I wish we'd had longer to spend at this castle, but we didn't, so that's that.
Costs: £4 approx
Hints and tips: There was a car park, though I think we got lost a few times trying to find it.
Want to find out more about why we're doing this challenge? Take a look at my first blog post.
Number 4 - Nunney Castle
Nunney Castle was a very pleasant surprise.
Chloe and myself were on a mini trip to Bath to visit a woman who I was hoping was going to make me a headband to wear for my wedding. We thought we may as well squeeze a couple of castles in while there.
We went in November 2010 and the weather was very frosty. When I say 'frosty' it was full on snow and the roads were icy. This made Chloe nervous, so I drove. The car was skidding about all over the place, we should have turned back.... we didn't.
We got to the village of Nunney and I thought we must of gone wrong. Most of the castles we'd seen so far were in fields away from the towns, but the sat nav directed us right into the middle of this adorable little village. The castle was behind a church and I fell in love as soon as I saw it. It was more of a big house than a castle with loads of sections. From the back it looked in pretty good condition, but when you got round the front half of it was gone - really striking!
It had a moat, though this was frozen. Apparently it was built in the 1300s by a Knight who the King liked. It was Christmas 1910 when the wall fell apart. It's managed by the English Heritage.
We slipped and slid over the icy drawbridge to get a good photo of us at the front. You can't spend long there, after walking round for about 10 minutes we'd looked at every inch of it. So we set off for some soup/home made quiche in one of the gorgeous village restaurants.
Cost: Freeeeeeeeeeeeee
Hints and tips: there isn't much to see in the castle itself so it'd be a quick (but lovely) trip. Parking in the village and then walking round would be best.
Want to find out why we're doing this challenge? Check out my first blog post.
Number 3 - Pevensey Castle
We visited Pevensey castle in September 2010.
To be honest, from the outside it doesn't look like much. I'd spent quite a bit of time there as a child and just thought it was an old crumbling wall and a huge field. But what I didn't know, was there was an actual castle bit in the middle of this area and that had a few pretty jazzy things.
For one, there was a pyramid of, what I can only assume were boulders, all joined together. I tried lifting them without any success.
The castle was about in the 4th century, so amazing any of it is still standing to be honest. It was the last and strongest Roman fort and was where William the Conqueror and his army landed in 1066.
You could climb up the walls and stand on the wooden platform which had a great view of the outer castle walls.
We were given an audio guide when we went in. It gave lots of interesting information especially as we descended the spiral staircase to the dungeon.
They had actors doing little pieces as if they were alive way back when, as we entered the dungeon the prisoner on the audio recording started telling us what it was like down there. His monologue finished, with 'help me, heeeeeelp meeeee', we power walked up those stairs pretty sharpish.
It's not got the structure or beauty of somewhere like Bodium, or the number of activities, but we still had a lovely time.
The weather was a bit windy on our visit but you could have a nice relaxed picnic if the sun was out. We went in, over a wooden drawbridge, and decided to go all out and get the audio devices that tell you the history of the castle.
Cost: £5 approx
Hints and tips: There weren't any places to eat or anything but it is in the village of Pevensey which has some nice pubs and restaurants.
If you want to find out why we're visiting all these castles, check out my first blog.
Number 2 - Bodiam Castle
Bodiam Castle is often the castle that is used to adorn the front of heritage books. It's got a really distinctive exterior and a moat, pretty impressive.
We had a lovely day there in April 2010. Chloe made some lemon drizzle cake for the trip which was a real bonus and we worked our way through that while walking from the car park to the entrance.
Bodiam is a 14th century castle with a moat. It's a ruin, but you can still climb steps to the tower and there were lot of beautiful archways that were all in tact.
When we got there we realised we'd picked a good day. There were loads of people dressed up in medieval garb, all very exciting. At one point we watched a little exhibition by the medieval re-enacters and, don't ask me how, but Chloe ended up in the stocks, which I thought was absolutely hilarious.
It was a bit wet the day we went so we were using our coats as rain covers. We climbed the tower which had some great views of the castle as a whole.
There were also some rather lovely turrets up there.
Then the sun came out for our photo, Chloe didn't have her sunglasses though, shame.
Cost: It's about £7 per adult for the castle and grounds
Want to know why we're doing this? Check our my first blog post.
