Bamburgh Castle
Encyclopedia
Bamburgh Castle is an imposing castle
located on the coast at Bamburgh
in Northumberland
, England
. It is a Grade I listed building.
outcrop, the location was previously home to a fort of the native Britons known as Din Guarie and may have been the capital of the British kingdom of the region (see Gododdin
, Bryneich and Hen Ogledd
) from the realm's foundation in c.420 until 547, the year of the first written reference to the castle. In that year the citadel was captured by the Anglo-Saxon
ruler Ida of Bernicia
(Beornice
) and became Ida's seat. It was briefly retaken by the Britons from his son Hussa
during the war of 590 before being relieved later the same year.
His grandson Æðelfriþ
passed it on to his wife Bebba, from whom the early name Bebbanburgh was derived. The Vikings destroyed the original fortification in 993.
The Normans
built a new castle on the site, which forms the core of the present one. William II
unsuccessfully besieged it in 1095 during a revolt supported by its owner, Robert de Mowbray
, Earl of Northumbria. After Robert was captured, his wife continued the defence until coerced to surrender by the king's threat to blind her husband.
Bamburgh then became the property of the reigning English monarch. Henry II
probably built the keep
. As an important English outpost, the castle was the target of occasional raids from Scotland
. In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses
, it became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery
, at the end of a nine-month siege
by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
.
The Forster family of Northumberland provided the Crown with twelve successive governors of the castle for some 400 years until the Crown granted ownership to Sir John Forster. The family retained ownership until Sir William Forster (d. 1700) was posthumously declared bankrupt, and his estates, including the castle, were sold to Lord Crew, Bishop of Durham
(husband of his sister Dorothy) under an Act of Parliament to settle the debts.
The castle deteriorated but was restored by various owners during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was finally bought by the Victorian
industrialist William Armstrong, who completed the restoration.
During the Second World War, the Royal Navy corvette
HMS Bamborough Castle was named after it.
The castle still belongs to the Armstrong family, and is opened to the public. It also hosts weddings and corporate events. It has been used as a film location since the 1920s, featuring in films such as Ivanhoe
(1952), El Cid
(1961), Mary, Queen of Scots
(1972), and Elizabeth
(1998).
About 6 miles (10 km) to the south on a point of coastal land is the ancient fortress of Dunstanburgh Castle
and about 10 miles (16 km) to the north is Lindisfarne Castle
on Holy Island
.
in the daytime (Northumberland Sound Mapping Study, Northumberland, England, June, 2003). Nearby are breeding colonies of Arctic and common terns on the inner Farne Islands
, and of Atlantic puffin
, shag
and razorbill
on Staple Island
.
Archaeological excavations were started in the 1960s by Dr Hope-Taylor
, who discovered the gold plaque known as the Bamburgh Beast as well as the Bamburgh Sword
.
The project runs a training dig for 10 weeks every summer for students to learn more about archaeological techniques and to further research into the Castle.
, the manufacturing company he founded. Displays include engines, artillery and weaponry, and aviation artefacts from two world wars.
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
located on the coast at Bamburgh
Bamburgh
Bamburgh is a large village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It has a population of 454.It is notable for two reasons: the imposing Bamburgh Castle, overlooking the beach, seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, and at present owned by the Armstrong family ; and its...
in Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is a Grade I listed building.
History
Built on a basaltBasalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
outcrop, the location was previously home to a fort of the native Britons known as Din Guarie and may have been the capital of the British kingdom of the region (see Gododdin
Gododdin
The Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...
, Bryneich and Hen Ogledd
Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd is a Welsh term used by scholars to refer to those parts of what is now northern England and southern Scotland in the years between 500 and the Viking invasions of c. 800, with particular interest in the Brythonic-speaking peoples who lived there.The term is derived from heroic...
) from the realm's foundation in c.420 until 547, the year of the first written reference to the castle. In that year the citadel was captured by the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
ruler Ida of Bernicia
Ida of Bernicia
Ida is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later Anglo-Saxon kings in this part of northern England and southern Scotland...
(Beornice
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
) and became Ida's seat. It was briefly retaken by the Britons from his son Hussa
Hussa of Bernicia
Hussa ruled from 585 to 592 and was the seventh known ruler of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia.It is not entirely certain whether Hussa was the son of Ida, founder of the kingdom of Bernicia, or rather the leader of a rival Anglian faction. Little is known of Hussa's life and reign, however...
during the war of 590 before being relieved later the same year.
His grandson Æðelfriþ
Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until c. 616; he was also, beginning c. 604, the first Bernician king to also rule Deira, to the south of Bernicia. Since Deira and Bernicia were the two basic components of what would later be defined as Northumbria, Æthelfrith can be considered, in...
passed it on to his wife Bebba, from whom the early name Bebbanburgh was derived. The Vikings destroyed the original fortification in 993.
The Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
built a new castle on the site, which forms the core of the present one. William II
William II of England
William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
unsuccessfully besieged it in 1095 during a revolt supported by its owner, Robert de Mowbray
Robert de Mowbray
Robert de Mowbray , a Norman, was Earl of Northumbria from 1086, until 1095, when he was deposed for rebelling against William Rufus, King of England. He was the son of Roger de Mowbray and nephew of Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances...
, Earl of Northumbria. After Robert was captured, his wife continued the defence until coerced to surrender by the king's threat to blind her husband.
Bamburgh then became the property of the reigning English monarch. Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
probably built the keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
. As an important English outpost, the castle was the target of occasional raids from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
, it became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, at the end of a nine-month siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
Richard Neville KG, jure uxoris 16th Earl of Warwick and suo jure 6th Earl of Salisbury and 8th and 5th Baron Montacute , known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, and military commander...
.
The Forster family of Northumberland provided the Crown with twelve successive governors of the castle for some 400 years until the Crown granted ownership to Sir John Forster. The family retained ownership until Sir William Forster (d. 1700) was posthumously declared bankrupt, and his estates, including the castle, were sold to Lord Crew, Bishop of Durham
Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew
Nathanial Crew, 3rd Baron Crew was Bishop of Oxford from 1671 to 1674, then Bishop of Durham from 1674 to 1721. As such he was one of the longest serving bishops of the Church of England....
(husband of his sister Dorothy) under an Act of Parliament to settle the debts.
The castle deteriorated but was restored by various owners during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was finally bought by the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
industrialist William Armstrong, who completed the restoration.
During the Second World War, the Royal Navy corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
HMS Bamborough Castle was named after it.
The castle still belongs to the Armstrong family, and is opened to the public. It also hosts weddings and corporate events. It has been used as a film location since the 1920s, featuring in films such as Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe (1952 film)
Ivanhoe is a 1952 historical film made by MGM. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman. The cast featured Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie and Felix Aylmer...
(1952), El Cid
El Cid (film)
El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in...
(1961), Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (film)
Mary, Queen of Scots is a 1971 Universal Pictures biographical film based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Leading an all-star cast are Vanessa Redgrave as the titular character and Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth I. In the same year, Jackson played the part of Elizabeth in the TV drama Elizabeth...
(1972), and Elizabeth
Elizabeth (film)
Elizabeth is a 1998 biographical film written by Michael Hirst, directed by Shekhar Kapur, and starring Cate Blanchett in the title role of Queen Elizabeth I of England, alongside Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, Sir John Gielgud, Fanny Ardant and Richard Attenborough...
(1998).
Vicinity features
Dunstanburgh Castle
Dunstanburgh Castle lies on a spectacular headland on the coast of Northumberland in northern England, between the villages of Craster and Embleton....
and about 10 miles (16 km) to the north is Lindisfarne Castle
Lindisfarne Castle
Lindisfarne Castle is a 16th-century castle located on Holy Island, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England, much altered by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1901. The island is accessible from the mainland at low tide by means of a causeway.-History:...
on Holy Island
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is also known as Holy Island and constitutes a civil parish in Northumberland...
.
Environmental factors
Air quality levels at Bamburgh Castle are excellent due to the absence of industrial sources in the region. Sound levels near the north-south road passing by Bamburgh Castle are in the range of 59 to 63 dBAA-weighting
A Weighting curve is a graph of a set of factors, that are used to 'weight' measured values of a variable according to their importance in relation to some outcome. The most commonly known example is frequency weighting in sound level measurement where a specific set of weighting curves known as A,...
in the daytime (Northumberland Sound Mapping Study, Northumberland, England, June, 2003). Nearby are breeding colonies of Arctic and common terns on the inner Farne Islands
Farne Islands
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 and 20 or more islands depending on the state of the tide. They are scattered about 2.5–7.5 km distant from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group...
, and of Atlantic puffin
Atlantic Puffin
The Atlantic Puffin is a seabird species in the auk family. It is a pelagic bird that feeds primarily by diving for fish, but also eats other sea creatures, such as squid and crustaceans. Its most obvious characteristic during the breeding season is its brightly coloured bill...
, shag
Shag
Shag may refer to:*Collegiate shag, a swing dance that originated in the 1920s *Carolina shag, a swing dance that originated in South Carolina in the 1940s*St...
and razorbill
Razorbill
The Razorbill is colonial seabird that will only come to land in order to breed. It is the largest living member of the Auk family. This agile bird will choose only one partner for life and females will lay one egg per year. Razorbills will nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed...
on Staple Island
Staple Island
Staple Island is a small rocky island that is one of the outer Farne Islands in Northumberland, England. Staple iIsland is known for its prolific breeding colonies of Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills and Kittiwakes. This uninhabited island has a history associated with the early monastic settlement...
.
Archaeology at Bamburgh
Since 1996, the Bamburgh Research Project has been investigating the archaeology and history of the Castle and Bamburgh area. The project has concentrated on the fortress site and the early medieval burial ground at the Bowl Hole, to the south of the castle.Archaeological excavations were started in the 1960s by Dr Hope-Taylor
Brian Hope-Taylor
Dr Brian Hope-Taylor was an artist, archeologist, broadcaster and university lecturer, who made a significant contribution to the understanding of early British history.-Professional career:...
, who discovered the gold plaque known as the Bamburgh Beast as well as the Bamburgh Sword
Bamburgh Sword
The Bamburgh Sword is an Anglo-Saxon artefact from the seventh century. It was uncovered during an archaeological excavation at Bamburgh Castle in 1960 by Brian Hope-Taylor. The sword was missing until his death in 2001, when it was found in a suitcase in his attic.-History:The sword most likely...
.
The project runs a training dig for 10 weeks every summer for students to learn more about archaeological techniques and to further research into the Castle.
Armstrong and Aviation Artefacts Museum
The castle's laundry rooms feature the Armstrong and Aviation Artefacts Museum, with exhibits about Victorian industrialist William Armstrong and Armstrong WhitworthArmstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
, the manufacturing company he founded. Displays include engines, artillery and weaponry, and aviation artefacts from two world wars.
Bamburgh Castle in film and television
- 1927: Huntingtower
- 1984–86 Robin of SherwoodRobin of SherwoodRobin of Sherwood , was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel...
- 2001: RevelationRevelation (2001 film)Revelation is a 2001 film, directed by Stuart Urban and starring James D'Arcy, Natasha Wightman, Udo Kier and Terence Stamp. Revelation tells the story of the final search for an ancient relic known as the Loculus, dating back to 50 CE, and the effect of this relic on the Martel family and the...
- 2010: Robin Hood (2010 film)Robin Hood (2010 film)Robin Hood is a 2010 British/American adventure film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett...
- 2011: Channel 4's Time TeamTime TeamTime Team is a British television series which has been aired on Channel 4 since 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode features a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining...
dug at Bamburgh Castle