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Warkworth Castle, Northumberland

This photo is by James McQuillen, and is copyright free

Warkworth castle in Northumberland was originally a Scottish motte castle -a wooden fortification on top of a mound - built in the mid twelfth century by Earl Henry of Northumberland, the son of King David of Scotland. By 1158 Warkworth was in English hands, and Henry the Second gave the castle to Roger FitzRichard. Work began on turning the original wooden fortification into a stone castle. By the time of the Scottish wars in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, during the reigns of Edward the First and Edward the Second, Warkworth was a major defensive position. Following two sieges by the Scots, Edward the Second gave the castle to the powerful Percy family, who were obliged to provide defense against the Scots in return. It was in the late fourteenth century that Henry Percy built the huge keep which dominates the castle.

By creating such a powerful family in the Percys, Edward the Second helped his cause against the Scots, but he also created problems for himself and later English monarchs. Castle walls seem to speak of such a clear divide between friends and those considered enemies. But castles always tell stories of how such divisions are an illusion. In Hamlet Shakespeare has the ghost of old King Hamlet drifting over apparently secure castle walls, and this gives an ominous introduction to all the confusion of friends and enemies to come. Warkworth tells a similar story. The Percys were to become leading figures in various attempts by the north to oppose the power of the London based government. Henry Percy, also known as Harry Hotspur, was involved in the plan to manoeuver Henry Bolingbroke into position as successor to Richard the Second. In 1403 Hotspur, changed his allegiance following a bitter dispute with the king over the division of spoils following a victory over the Scots. Hotspur joined forces with his uncle, Thomas Percy, and led a rebellion against Henry the Fourth, which ended with Hotspur's death at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Hotspur, earned himself a place in Shakespeare's play King Henry the Fourth on the strength of this. The early scenes of King Henry the Fourth Part 2 are set at Warkworth. As in Hamlet the secure castle walls of Warkworth reflect ironically on confused loyalties in the play. A ghostly character called Rumour opens the play by drifting about the walls of Warkworth Castle. He spreads the deception that rather than dying at Shrewsbury, Hotspur triumphed, and it was King Henry who died. It is in this confused, fluctuating situation that King Henry the Fourth Part 2 begins. And the first thing that happens in Act 1 is the opening of the gate of Warkworth Castle. The walls seem so solid and strong, but the divisions they represent are as insubstantial as Rumour itself.

In 1536 the Percys were involved with the Pilgrimage of Grace, the north's attempt to rebel against Henry the Eighth's dissolution of the monasteries. The Percy family lost Warkworth and their castle at Alnwick, had their holdings returned to them by the catholic Mary Tudor, only to lose them again under Mary's successor Elizabeth the First. Elizabeth's reign was to see an end to the power of the northern earls. Warkworth declined with the Percys, and suffered damage during the Civil War in the seventeenth century. It was at this point that the once mighty Percy family finally abandoned Warkworth. In the late seventeenth century the Percy estates passed into the hands of the Smithsons, who confusingly took the name Percy. They carried out some repair work. In 1922 the castle was given to the state, and is now administered by English Heritage.

Opening Times: The castle is open daily April to September 10am to 5pm,October 10am to 4pm, and from 1st November to 20th March 10am to 4pm but only on weekends and Mondays. There are free tours available of the Duke's rooms on Wednesdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from April to September. The castle is closed 24th - 26th December and 1st January.

Directions: Warkworth Castle is in Warkworth village, off the A1068, just north of Amble in Northumberland. Click here for an interactive satellite map centred on Warkworth Castle.

Access: some areas are inaccessible to wheelchair users. A custodian has a ramp to help at the entrance.

Contact:

telephone: 01665 711423

web site: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.13348