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Welcome to Chillingham Castle. You can imagine riding up this entrance in a horse drawn carriage. It is a very impressive way to arrive. We spent a couple nights here to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. This is one of the few castles in England which allow overnight guests. For more information on the castle or to make a reservation for yourself go to their website.
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We rented
the Look Out apartment. This is in the top right hand corner.
The top floor of the tower was ours. We even had our own key
to the castle.
The view from here was fabulous. From this side we could see out over the countryside. The windows on the right side of the tower gave as a view down into the Italian garden and up the driveway. |
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As you enter the door in the picture above you walk through a room into the inner courtyard. The door to the right is across the courtyard. This takes you into The Great Hall. A scene from the movie "Elizabeth" was filmed here. It has been restored to her era.
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Believe
it or not, we traveled all the way from Italy to stay in an English castle
which has an Italian style garden. Go figure.
This garden was swamp land when the restoration began. At the far end of the garden is an area where swordsmen would practice fencing. There was even a place for the women to sit and watch. |
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The castle also is famous for its collection of wild cattle. Here we see one who has found shelter from the wind. They also have cattle descended from ancient Roman herds brought by Emperor Hadrian and his men. |
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Here is a view of the St Peter's church at Chillingham. It is still in use today. Surrounding it are various former residents of Chillingham and the surrounding community. It is a very well preserved. |
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The Earl and Lady of Grey are entombed within the church. As is the custom, there are stone carvings of the couple on top of the tomb. This takes up an entire "wing" of the tiny chapel. The picture does not do it justice. The Grey family have been on this site since 1066. It has a vast history. The castle had been neglected since 1933. Rooftops and floors had caved in. Sir Humphry Wakefield, a descendent of the Grey's, has been restoring it as his home since the 1980's. |
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Richard
is pretending to prepare his "quidditch" broom for flight.
He was not successful.
Behind him is the entrance to the castle's dungeon. |
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Not too far from Chillingham is Alnwick Castle. It also has been used in several movies. You may recognize that Richard is standing in Harry Potter's quidditch practice field. He had better watch out for the snitch!
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To the
west of Chillingham lies Hadrian's wall. The wall runs the length
of the British/Scotch border. There are several sites along the
wall to view exhibits of ancient Roman ruins and artifacts found in the
area.
There are several Roman artifacts that made some of the things we have seen other places connect. Most of the items were found deep in the mud, which preserved the leather and wood pieces. Mud just might be better than Tupperware for keeping things for a couple thousand years.
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