Almost completely intact, it supposedly is one of the finest and most unaltered examples of a 13th century English manor house. It lies in a secluded Northumberland woodland. Originally built as an undefended residence, it was immediately fortified on the outbreak of Anglo-Scottish warfare. Nevertheless it was pillaged and burnt by the Scots in 1315, seized by English rebels two years later, and again occupied by Scots in 1346. We didn’t think it was anything special, but it was in fairly good shape for having been a ping pong ball in the border wars.
One of the fun things about driving in England, regardless of which side your steering wheel is on, is the narrow lanes that require someone to back up. Fortunately, so far everyone has been reasonable and we don’t reverse more than our share.
Next stop was Prudhoe Castle, in even better shape than Aydon, and in a beautiful setting.
Continuously occupied for over nine centuries it was originally the home of the Umfravilles but was eventually taken over by the famous Percy family who restored it. Surviving two sieges during the 1170s , Prudhoe was the only Northumberland castle to resist the Scots. Most of the surviving building work dates from the 12th century. It originally was built to defend a crossing of the river Tyne, which flows adjacent. Part of the castle is closed off to the public as it is actively occupied by tenants of a direct descendant of the original Percys. There are a lot of arches.
And turrets. I like the cross-shaped slit window.
Our last English castle. Now back to our last night at the Yellow House. . .
Before heading off to Scotland for two weeks! Uh, isn’t this August?
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