Alnwick Castle in Northumberland is the second largest inhabited castle in England (after Windsor Castle), and has been the home of the Percys since 1309.

Yves de Vescy, Baron of Alnwick, erected the first parts of the castle in about 1096 to protect England’s northern border against invasion from Scotland.

The Castle was first restored, primarily as a fortress, by the 1st Lord Percy of Alnwick in the early 1300′s and portions of this restoration remain today, including the Abbot’s Tower, the Middle Gateway and the Constable’s Tower.

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In 1066, the King of England, Edward the Confessor died childless, leaving several claimants vying for his throne. Harold Godwinson, Edward’s brother-in-law, was made King of England, but William, Duke of Normandy, a distant blood relative, said he too had been promised the throne.

William invaded England and defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings later that same year. He soon realised that he must lay siege and capture London in order to be  recosgnised as King. (more…)

The impressive stone castle at Grwych in Wales, has had a very interesting past, and has been home to Normans, Roundheads, Aristocracy and middleweight boxing champion Randolph Turpin.

The first castle at the site was built by the Normans in the early 12th century and siezed and rebuilt in stone by the Welsh prince Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth in 1170.

The castle was then destroyed by the Roundheads during the English Civil War and was not rebuilt again until 1819 at the bequest of Lloyd Hesketh Bamford-Hesketh. (more…)