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alnwick |
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The unassuming town of ALNWICK (pronounced "Annick"), thirty miles
north of Newcastle and four miles inland from Alnmouth, is renowned for
its castle - seat of the dukes of Northumberland - which overlooks the
River Aln immediately to the north of the town centre. Alnwick itself is
an appealing market town of cobbled streets and Georgian houses, centred
on the old cross in Market Place, site of a weekly market (Saturdays)
since the thirteenth century.
The Percys - raised to the dukedom of Northumberland in 1750 - have
owned the Castle (Easter-Oct daily 11am-5pm; £6.75; ) since 1309, when
Henry de Percy reinforced the original Norman keep and remodelled its
curtain wall. In the eighteenth century, the castle was badly in need of
a refit, so the first duke had the interior refurbished by Robert Adam
in an extravagant Gothic style - which in turn was supplanted by the
gaudy Italianate decoration preferred by the fourth duke in the 1850s.
Major building work is again under way, to turn twelve acres of the
grounds into an ambitious contemporary water garden ( ), complete with
interactive water displays, sculptures, maze and topiary walks; with
some parts of the lengthy project already finished, it's possible to
view the state of play by becoming a Friend of the Alnwick Garden (£10),
which entitles you to visit as often as you like (daily 10am-5pm).
Entry to the castle is through the carriageway to the right of the
fourteenth-century barbican, whose sturdy battlements sport a number of
stone soldiers, a piece of eighteenth-century flummery replacing the
figurines of medieval times, set up there to ward off the evil eye. The
dark and drab entrance hall of the keep leads to the grand staircase , a
marble pomposity that climbs up to the guard chamber, whose
Renaissance-style decor, from the mosaic floor to the stucco ceiling, is
typical of the work of the Italian craftsmen hired by the fourth duke.
The most lavish decoration is in the red drawing room , where the rich
polygonal panels of the ceiling bear down on damask-covered walls and
some magnificent ebony cabinets rescued from Versailles during the
French Revolution. Each room displays part of the duke's extensive
collection of paintings, including pieces by Canaletto, Titian,
Tintoretto, Van Dyck and Turner. Three of the perimeter towers contain
museum collections - the Regimental Museum of the Royal Northumberland
Fusiliers in the Abbot's Tower, early British and Roman finds in the
Postern Tower, and an exhibition dedicated to the Percy Tenantry
Volunteers, a private force raised by the second duke during the
Napoleonic Wars, in the Constable's Tower - but the bucolic garden walks
and Capability Brown-designed grounds are a more profitable use of time
once you've seen the main rooms.
From outside the castle, it's a few minutes' walk north along
Bailiffgate to the gates of Hulne Park , a substantial tract of hilly
woodland. Deep inside the park, a three-mile hike from the entrance, are
the rusticated remains of Hulne Priory , a thirteenth-century Carmelite
monastery built in a lovely spot above the north bank of the River Aln.
There's not much else to see in Alnwick, except for the grandiose Percy
Tenantry Column just to the southeast of the centre along Bondgate
Without. This 75-foot high column, surmounted by the Percy lion with its
characteristic horizontal tail, was built by the tenants of the second
duke in 1816 after he had reduced their rents by 25 percent. As it
turned out, their humble gratitude was somewhat premature. The third
duke promptly bumped the rents up again and locals wryly renamed their
monument the "Farmers' Folly". A little further on, housed in the listed
Victorian train station, Barter Books ( ), one of the largest
second-hand bookshops in England, is well worth a call; it also offers
internet access.
Alnwick bus station is on Clayport Street, a couple of minutes' walk
west of the Market Place, where you'll find the tourist office , in the
arcaded Shambles (July & Aug Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-5pm; April-June &
Sept Mon-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 10am-4pm; Oct-March Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat
10am-4pm; tel 01665/510665). Several accommodation options cluster round
the gatehouse at the end of Bondgate. Here, the welcoming Tower Guest
Rooms , above the restaurant of the same name at 10 Bondgate Within (tel
01665/603888; £50-60), stands out for its bright, tasteful, en-suite
rooms and hearty breakfasts. Among other cheaper places beyond the gate,
you'll find the cosy, ivy-clad Bondgate House Hotel at 20 Bondgate
Without (tel 01665/602025, kenforbes@lineone.net ; £40-50). Alnwick's
main hotel is the White Swan , on Bondgate Within (tel 01665/602109;
£70-90), where you might want to pop in at least for coffee - there's a
comfortable lounge, while the hotel's fine panelled dining room was
swiped from an old ocean liner, the Olympic , the twin of the Titanic .
You can camp at Alnwick Rugby Club in Greensfield Park (tel
01665/510109; closed Nov-March), a little way south of the centre but
walkable.
For evening meals , try the Gate Bistro , 14 Bondgate Within (closed
Mon) - next to the White Swan Hotel - which serves some interesting
specials, such as Lamb Percy, shoulder cooked with thyme, juniper and
red wine. The Tower Restaurant next door has a reassuring,
pine-furnished feel and serves everything from breakfast to licensed
meals, including plenty of vegetarian and chargrilled options. In the
other direction, heading towards the castle, Benvenuti is a reliable,
traditional Italian occupying an atmospheric eighteenth-century town
house on Narrowgate (closed Sun). The "Dirty Bottles" in Ye Olde Cross
's window on Narrowgate have supposedly not been moved for two
centuries, since the person who put them there dropped down dead
immediately afterwards. Check to see what's on at the Alnwick Playhouse
, just through the arch on Bondgate Without (tel 01665/510785, ), a
venue for theatre, music and film throughout the year.
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