Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.

Had a drive around the borders today and ended up on the east coast. Seahouses for fish and chips and a trundle home down the A1 with several diversions!

The dramatic view of Bamburgh Castle from the road/street is shown above. Sprawling dramatically across nine acres of land, high on it's rocky perch above the Northumberland coastline, Bamburgh is one of the largest inhabited castles in the Country.

It sits some 45 metres above sea level on a natural plateau of volcanic dolerite. The first written reference to a Castle here is 547AD and the Vikings destroyed the original fortification in 993AD. The oldest part of structure that can be seen now (the Keep) was built in 1164AD with stones quarried from nearby North Sunderland that were transported on horseback and by man power. The keep was built with the intention of being impenetrable, with the walls being some 3 - 4 metres thick.

Throughout the centuries Bamburgh was attacked by the Scots and during the War of the Roses it became the first Castle to be defeated by artillery attack. Over the centuries in the 1700's and 1800's the Castle fell into a state of disrepair before being bought in 1894 by the Victorian Industrialist Lord Armstrong and completed the restoration. The Castle is still occupied by the Armstrong family and they allow visitors to experience this wonderful Castle's character and amazing history. Source Your Northumberland/Wikipedia