Dunstanburgh Castle

Dunstanburgh Castle is one of the most dramatically sited ruins in England — a great jagged mass of towers rising above the sea cliffs eight miles northeast of Alnwick. What makes it special is the approach: the castle is only reachable on foot, either by a two-mile coastal walk from the fishing village of Craster, or from the north via Embleton Bay. There is no road. The walk along the Northumberland coast path, with the sea on one side and the castle growing larger ahead, is one of the best short walks in the north of England.

English Heritage maintains the site and the towers are climbable. The gatehouse-keep, the largest in England when it was built, dominates the headland even in its ruined state. On grey days, with the sea crashing below, it is hauntingly atmospheric. In summer, it is popular — the car park at Craster fills up — but the walk still feels rewarding, and the pub in Craster (the Jolly Fisherman, with its excellent dressed crab and kippers) is one of the best reasons to complete it.

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A story
Dunstanburgh was built in 1313 by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, partly as a show of defiance against his cousin King Edward II, with whom he was in open conflict. Lancaster was captured and executed in 1322. The castle passed to John of Gaunt, who strengthened it considerably, and was a Lancastrian stronghold during the Wars of the Roses, changing hands several times. By 1500 it had already been abandoned and was falling into ruin — Turner painted it repeatedly in the early nineteenth century, attracted by its dramatic decay.