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The unassuming town of ALNWICK (pronounced "Annick"), thirty miles north of Newcastle and four miles inland from Alnmouth, is renowned for its castle - seat of the dukes of Northumberland - which overlooks the River Aln immediately to the north of the town centre. Alnwick itself is an appealing market town of cobbled streets and Georgian houses, centred on the old cross in Market Place, site of a weekly market (Saturdays) since the thirteenth century. The Percys - raised to the dukedom of Northumberland in 1750 - have owned the Castle (Easter-Oct daily 11am-5pm; GBP6.75; ) since 1309, when Henry de Percy reinforced the original Norman keep and remodelled its curtain wall. In the eighteenth century, the castle was badly in need of a refit, so the first duke had the interior refurbished by Robert Adam in an extravagant Gothic style - which in turn was supplanted by the gaudy Italianate decoration preferred by the fourth duke in the 1850s. Major building work is again under way, to turn twelve acres of the grounds into an ambitious contemporary water garden ( ), complete with interactive water displays, sculptures, maze and topiary walks; with some parts of the lengthy project already finished, it's possible to view the state of play by becoming a Friend of the Alnwick Garden (GBP10), which entitles you to visit as often as you like (daily 10am-5pm). Entry to the castle is through the carriageway to the right of the fourteenth-century barbican, whose sturdy battlements sport a number of stone soldiers, a piece of eighteenth-century flummery replacing the figurines of medieval times, set up there to ward off the evil eye. The dark and drab entrance hall of the keep leads to the grand staircase , a marble pomposity that climbs up to the guard chamber, whose Renaissance-style decor, from the mosaic floor to the stucco ceiling, is typical of the work of the Italian craftsmen hired by the fourth duke. The most lavish decoration is in the red drawing room , where the rich polygonal panels of the ceiling bear down on damask-covered walls and some magnificent ebony cabinets rescued from Versailles during the French Revolution. Each room displays part of the duke's extensive collection of paintings, including pieces by Canaletto, Titian, Tintoretto, Van Dyck and Turner. Three of the perimeter towers contain museum collections - the Regimental Museum of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in the Abbot's Tower, early British and Roman finds in the Postern Tower, and an exhibition dedicated to the Percy Tenantry Volunteers, a private force raised by the second duke during the Napoleonic Wars, in the Constable's Tower - but the bucolic garden walks and Capability Brown-designed grounds are a more profitable use of time once you've seen the main rooms. From outside the castle, it's a few minutes' walk north along Bailiffgate to the gates of Hulne Park , a substantial tract of hilly woodland. Deep inside the park, a three-mile hike from the entrance, are the rusticated remains of Hulne Priory , a thirteenth-century Carmelite monastery built in a lovely spot above the north bank of the River Aln. There's not much else to see in Alnwick, except for the grandiose Percy Tenantry Column just to the southeast of the centre along Bondgate Without. This 75-foot high column, surmounted by the Percy lion with its characteristic horizontal tail, was built by the tenants of the second duke in 1816 after he had reduced their rents by 25 percent. As it turned out, their humble gratitude was somewhat premature. The third duke promptly bumped the rents up again and locals wryly renamed their monument the "Farmers' Folly". A little further on, housed in the listed Victorian train station, Barter Books ( ), one of the largest second-hand bookshops in England, is well worth a call; it also offers internet access. Alnwick bus station is on Clayport Street, a couple of minutes' walk west of the Market Place, where you'll find the tourist office , in the arcaded Shambles (July & Aug Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-5pm; April-June & Sept Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm; Oct-March Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-4pm; tel 01665/510665). Several accommodation options cluster round the gatehouse at the end of Bondgate. Here, the welcoming Tower Guest Rooms , above the restaurant of the same name at 10 Bondgate Within (tel 01665/603888; GBP50-60), stands out for its bright, tasteful, en-suite rooms and hearty breakfasts. Among other cheaper places beyond the gate, you'll find the cosy, ivy-clad Bondgate House Hotel at 20 Bondgate Without (tel 01665/602025, kenforbes@lineone.net ; GBP40-50). Alnwick's main hotel is the White Swan , on Bondgate Within (tel 01665/602109; GBP70-90), where you might want to pop in at least for coffee - there's a comfortable lounge, while the hotel's fine panelled dining room was swiped from an old ocean liner, the Olympic , the twin of the Titanic . You can camp at Alnwick Rugby Club in Greensfield Park (tel 01665/510109; closed Nov-March), a little way south of the centre but walkable. For evening meals , try the Gate Bistro , 14 Bondgate Within (closed Mon) - next to the White Swan Hotel - which serves some interesting specials, such as Lamb Percy, shoulder cooked with thyme, juniper and red wine. The Tower Restaurant next door has a reassuring, pine-furnished feel and serves everything from breakfast to licensed meals, including plenty of vegetarian and chargrilled options. In the other direction, heading towards the castle, Benvenuti is a reliable, traditional Italian occupying an atmospheric eighteenth-century town house on Narrowgate (closed Sun). The "Dirty Bottles" in Ye Olde Cross 's window on Narrowgate have supposedly not been moved for two centuries, since the person who put them there dropped down dead immediately afterwards. Check to see what's on at the Alnwick Playhouse , just through the arch on Bondgate Without (tel 01665/510785, ), a venue for theatre, music and film throughout the year.
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