Bamburgh Castle

Bamburgh Castle is a large castle dating back to the 12th century, situated on a volcanic outcrop in a dramatic coastal setting. It was ruinous when acquired by Lord Crewe in 1704 and made habitable after his death, before undergoing extensive restoration and rebuilding by C.J. Ferguson between 1894 and 1904, commissioned by Lord Armstrong. The castle is constructed of squared sandstone and ashlar, covering approximately a quarter of a mile in length and eight acres.

The main entrance is primarily 12th century, featuring rounded towers flanking a tunnel-vaulted archway. High walls protect the approach to the inner gateway, which has a 12th-century vault but is mostly 19th century above. The castle comprises a 12th-century keep and three wards.

The East Ward includes extensive buildings by Ferguson on the south side, incorporating medieval masonry. These include the Captain's Lodge and King’s Hall in an elaborate Perpendicular style, with further buildings in a more restrained early Tudor style. The ruins of a 12th-century chapel with an apse are centrally located.

The keep, situated between the east and west wards, has a high, multi-moulded plinth, a 12th-century ground-floor doorway with two round arches and renewed columns, broad angle pilasters rising as turrets, a battlemented parapet, and numerous round-headed windows, mostly dating to the 18th century.

The West Ward features two gatehouses: the Smith Gate, largely 19th century, and the Neville Tower, which incorporates medieval vaulting and masonry. There are extensive 19th-century apartments along the south side, culminating in a round clock tower with medieval lower parts. Late 19th-century stables, with five bays and octagonal corner towers, stand on the west side.

An outer ward to the west contains a windmill and fragments of a medieval curtain wall.

Inside the keep, the ground floor is vaulted with two parallel tunnel vaults on large square piers, a mural stair leads to the first floor and an armoury, possibly originally a chapel with a vaulted apse on the east side, with a groin-vaulted ceiling. The Captain's Lodge includes a 14th-century barrel-vaulted basement (now a shop) with ten chamfered transverse ribs. Above, Ferguson’s work incorporates a vaulted lobby, staircase, and a fine cantilevered stair with Art Nouveau balusters. The King’s Hall and Cross Hall, built on the site of the medieval hall, feature a Perpendicular style with two large oriels, a large fireplace with a joggled lintel, a panelled overmantel, stone tracery, and a false hammerbeam roof elaborately carved in teak. Arts and Crafts detailing includes window recesses, a screens passage and a musicians' gallery. A former pantry, buttery and kitchen remain; the pantry and buttery have high, pointed tunnel vaults, while the kitchen contains three large segmental-arched fireplaces and four pointed-arched medieval doorways, two of which are blocked.