See It: Warkworth Castle

We continue to take advantage of our Saturdays to explore all that the UK has to offer.  We took one Saturday to explore Warkworth Castle in the small village of Warkworth along the northeast coast of England.  It was about an hour drive north through the countryside.

As we drove through the countryside, we were surrounded by fields and then suddenly, the ruins of Warkworth Castle appeared.  It was kind of like a "Field of Dreams" moment without the corn and baseball field, but with grass and a castle!  There was one small tourist sign pointing the way.  

Warkworth Fortress Ruins

This castle is one of the most impressive fortresses in the northern portion of England.  The most notable occupants of the castle were the Percy family.  The lion badge, which was important to the Percy family, can be seen throughout the castle and grounds.

Warkworth Castle drawbridge

We entered the ruins and grounds by crossing the drawbridge.  As we walked across the drawbridge, it was not hard to imagine knights on horseback approaching the fortress from the vast fields in front of the walls.

 There were a few towers within the walls of the fortress that the guards used to lookout for intruders from the countryside.

The Warkworth Castle residence

The Warkworth Castle residence is still standing.  As part of the tour you can walk through the various rooms.  The mere size of the residence was daunting when you think about people carrying each and every stone used to build the structure.

You can see the unpredictable British weather in the background of the photo above.  The sky was blue and sunny when we left our house and arrived at the castle.  We could slowly see the dark clouds roll in.  Just as we finished our tour, those dark clouds opened up, and it downpoured for about an hour! 

AJ listening the audio guide while standing in one of the ovens of the castle's kitchen.

There were at least two kitchens in the Warkworth Castle.  Each kitchen had two ovens that were used to prepare the food for the residents and visitors of the castle.  Great feasts with other nobility were often held in the Great Hall of the castle.  The cooks of the Warkworth castle had to have strong backs to carry all the meat and produce, not to mention the wood to fuel the fire, up an uneven flight of stairs. 

The views from the castle windows were incredible even given the temperamental English weather!  To the left of the castle were rolling hills that vaguely reminded me of the Midwest.  A river out to the North Sea could be seen over the fortress walls to the right of the castle. 

Warkworth Village

We had planned to walk into the village of Warkworth for lunch, but changed our plans due to the downpour.  We were not adequately prepared for the rain as a true Brit would have been!  As true Americans, we hopped in our car and drove into town.  It has a quaint High Street full of unique shops. We ate a delicious lunch at the Caboose Chocolatier.  Caboose's claim to fame is that Prince Charles recently visited the restaurant! 

We had a lovely Saturday in Warkworth.  Now that we are home, remember the lights are always on!

~W