From magnificent ruins to imposing forts: 10 must-visit British castles:
England, Wales and Scotland are filled with castles that are rich in history and mythology. Here, Michael Smith rounds up 10 must-visit castles in Britain, from imposing ruins with ancient links to Arthurian legend to clifftop medieval fortresses.
Castles have a special place in everyone’s heart. In being asked to choose 10 British castles for people to visit, we had to think carefully about the many hundreds of castles we have been to over the years and then arrive at a balanced selection. We have no doubt that many of you will disagree with our choices – but we hope you’ll find at least one to inspire you!
Bodiam Castle, East Sussex
It would be unfair to compile a list of castles and not include Bodiam. For many, Bodiam is the epitome of the castle: square, with a tower at each corner, and surrounded by a moat. If any castle conjures up the ‘romance’ of the medieval world, this is it.
When the 14th-century knight Edward Dalyngrigge received his license to crenellate [build battlements and fortify] in 1385, he had it in mind to build not so much a castle as a romantic and stylised home, no doubt based on many smaller such castles he had seen in France.
Hence, as a castle, Bodiam is rather small. I will be brave and say that, from a purely ‘castle’ point of view, it is rather disappointing. But this is missing the point. Bodiam was built not to resist attack (even its wet moat could be drained simply if required) but to impress its builder’s well-connected friends. The symmetry of the castle is designed to be reflected perfectly in the moat. The approach to the castle was via a circuitous route around the moat, then crossing it via a bridge which turned at right angles towards the gatehouse for a dramatic final approach and entrance. A viewing platform for medieval visitors to enjoy the castle in its majesty was also built further up the valley side.
Castle Rising, Norfolk
Castle Rising rewards the visitor with an astonishing marriage of disproportionate earthworks and one of the most magnificent keeps in the entire British Isles. While the great Norman towers of Rochester and Hedingham impress with their height – and those of Colchester and London’s Tower do so with their bulk – it is the sheer quality of Castle Rising which catches the eye.
Built in the 12th century by William II of Albini, Rising is graced by splendid blind arcading [arches with no openings] to its outer walls and a magnificent decorated forebuilding which leads to a sumptuous entrance vestibule into the main keep. The size of the keep itself is impressive: this was no keep for a local lord, it was a palace, richly decorated in the latest style as befitting a major figure.
Its stunning architectural quality – which at one time was mirrored by a church building within the bailey – appears in marked contrast to the rest of the site that today comprises mainly earthworks. Yet it is these earthworks which conspire to create Rising’s unique atmosphere; they are imposing, and dwarf even the keep itself following work to heighten them in c1200.
Viewed from the air, Rising can be seen for what it is: a majestic lordly palace designed as a residence of the highest order. The village which adjoins it reflects a contemporary development; of particular interest is the church, which includes some spectacular Romanesque work.
Dinas Emrys
Why should such an insignificant rock, capped by the dormant foundations of a 12th-century keep and an ancient hill fort, make it into any list of ten British castles? A casual inspection reveals the keep to be no different to any other crumbling remnant that can be found across the UK. It could be hidden away in Oxfordshire, or perhaps down some country lane in Shropshire.
This unprepossessing place, until fairly recently inaccessible and on private land, has a secret far greater than its stones. This is a place which touches the essence of Wales and the legends of Britain. Here lies an ancient story of Merlin, one of the central figures of the Arthurian canon.
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland
Who can walk the coastal path from Craster up to Dunstanburgh and fail to be impressed by one of the most magnificent castles in the entire British Isles? Viewed from afar, Dunstanburgh lures us ever onwards to its mighty gatehouse and capacious clifftop bailey with walls and soaring towers. This is the stuff of romance!
This is not unexpected. Like many great castles, Dunstanburgh was built to impress in its landscape. As with Framlingham in Suffolk and Kenilworth in Warwickshire, the site was designed around a series of planned water features to emphasise its presence and make a deliberate visual statement, both from land and from sea.
It’s unlikely the original builders of Dunstanburgh thought that this magnificently planned landscape would still impress visitors 700 years later. This is, indeed, art in the landscape.
Harlech Castle, Gwynedd
No serious list of castles would be complete without at least one of Edward I’s great castles; which better than Harlech? After all, even UNESCO describes it as “one of the finest examples of late 13th-century and early 14th-century military architecture in Europe”.
Pleshey Castle, Essex
The motte and bailey castle at Pleshey is not the largest of such types in Britain, nor is it particularly exceptional. What makes the castle and its neighbouring village truly special, though, is that the confines of both castle and village have not changed since Norman days.
Viewed from the air, it can be seen that the motte (or mound), bailey and surrounding town banks form a contiguous whole. The village does not expand beyond the banks as originally planned; we are looking at a fossilised urban arrangement of unique richness.
Established by Geoffrey de Mandeville in the 12th century, the castle had a chequered history. Before being passed to the Duchy of Lancaster in 1419. By the 16th century, Pleshey stood empty, its walls and banks gradually falling into disrepair.
Although the castle itself can only be visited by permission. A visit to the village itself is well worth the effort. With the village banks easily accessible by public footpath. Even if you cannot gain access to the 50ft-high motte, you can enjoy a view. Of that and the large bailey, and see the magnificent 15th-century brick-built bridge that still connects one to the other.
Sheriff Hutton Castle, North Yorkshire
I first visited Sheriff Hutton in the 1980s while at university in York. Covered in ivy and with the soaring fragments of its once mighty corner turrets rising 80ft in the air. The castle was visible for miles across the vale. It was – and remains – a striking monument.
Sheriff Hutton is one of a group of quadrangular castles built towards the end of the 14th century. That includes Bolton in Wensleydale and Bodiam in Sussex. Unlike these two, Sheriff Hutton has not survived the ravages of time so well. But what it lacks in substance, it more than makes up for in visual appeal.
Skenfrith Castle, Monmouthshire
Skenfrith is a castle that appears to offer nothing and yet immediately delights the visitor. Especially on one of those warm summer evenings when life becomes a bucolic haze. Its green-hued stone and lazy location by the slow-drifting River Monnow are enchanting features in themselves. But it is the castle’s evocation of a medieval lordly homestead that first gripped me.
Skenfrith sits in the bottom of a valley and comprises. Four corner towers and a large cylindrical keep on a vestigial motte. Possibly a design feature to reflect status, as the ‘motte’ appears to be built around the tower. At one point, there was a gatehouse –although nothing remains of this. A large moat, which once surrounded. The castle and was fed by the river, has also long since been filled in.
Tantallon Castle, East Lothian
Surely Tantallon Castle is one of the most dramatically sited in Britain, with its clifftop position. Striking curtain wall and magnificent views towards Bass Rock. The last curtain-walled castle to be built in Scotland (in the 14th century). It shares a similarity with Cheshire’s Beeston Castle in requiring minimal protection on several sides due to the precipitous cliffs.
Wigmore Castle, Herefordshire
Wigmore is one of those great castles that once held much renown and now lies wrapped in brambles and bees. I first visited this stronghold of the Mortimer family in 1980. When a trip to see it was no guarantee of seeing anything! One particularly special memory was cutting through brambles and branches to find a semi-submerged gatehouse arch hidden in the gloom.