In this blog, we’ll be talking about the Dark Ages – or, as they should be known, the early Middle Ages. Misinformation about the Dark Ages The Dark Ages were a really interesting period of time. Many of the history books written about this time were very poorly written because, at the end of Roman...Read More

Bamburgh Castle, on the North East coast of England, has an amazing history dating right back to the stone age and up to the modern day. This new blog series will explore the castle, its history, its surroundings and the many adventures that have taken place within its glorious walls. In days gone by, Bamburgh...Read More

Beside the Black Gate of Newcastle’s Castle is the site of a particularly nasty ruin with a chequered history. Today we’re looking at the Heron Pit – one of the first prisons in Newcastle. Newcastle’s first prison In stark contrast to modern-day prisons, the Heron Pit didn’t have any doors. It would originally have had...Read More

Newcastle Castle’s Black Gate is the entrance to the Castle. Unlike the Black Gate from the Lord of the Rings, the gate is not named after all the dark and evil deeds that took place there. In fact it has a much more straightforward reason behind its name. In this blog, we take a closer...Read More

In this blog we explore some of the settlement outside of the Castle keep. The Castle Garth – the area around the Castle Keep. There were two main gates to Newcastle’s Castle, the West Gate, the site of which now stands on the Westgate Road in Newcastle, and the Black Gate – much more famous...Read More

The first thing to say about The Great Hall is that the name is a Victorian name. It wouldn’t have been called the Great Hall during the Middle Ages. That would have been another building outside of the Castle Keep. The Great hall, behind Newcastle’s Castle keep Where today’s Vermont Hotel is, the original Great...Read More

In this blog we’ll talk about the construction of Newcastle’s Castle as well as my favourite part of the building – the Well Room. The construction of a castle isn’t always about military defence. It’s not just the walls, the gatehouses or the military needs that make the castle into a defendable asset. Nor is...Read More

The cellar in Newcastle’s castle has also been known as the Garrison room. It was so called by a local antiquarian called John Collingwood Bruce. In those days, antiquarians were the people who, before historians and archaeologists existed, would gather together items, artifacts and stories from history and write books about them. John Collingwood Bruce...Read More

The Lower Hall would have been the office of the Sheriff of Northumberland. The Sheriff would have been known as a civil servant these days and he would have been the King’s representative in the North East of England, responsible for justice, collection of taxes, defence of the region, coordinating with the barons and Lords...Read More