Elton Hall

 Elton Hall is a baronial hall in Elton, Cambridgeshire. It has been the ancestral home of the Proby family (sometime known as the Earls of Carysfort) since 1660.

The hall lies in an 3,800-acre estate through which the River Nene runs. The building incorporates 15th-, 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century parts and is a Grade I listed building.

Elton Hall is 2 miles  from Fotheringhay Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots was executed in 1587.

The Victorian gardens have been skilfully restored in recent years and contain a knot garden, a new rose and herbaceous garden, fine hedges and a Gothic orangery built to celebrate the Millennium. The gardens are promoted by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Skipton Castle in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England.

Skipton Castle in Yorkshire Based in Skipton, this is a medieval Grade I listed Yorkshire castle built by Robert de Romille, a Norman baron, in 1090. It has been preserved for more than 900 years.

Skipton Castle is a Grade I Listed medieval castle in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1090 by Robert de Romille, a Norman baron, and has been preserved for over 931 years.

A colourised photochrom of Skipton Castle, c.1890 – 1900

The castle was originally a motte and bailey castle built in 1090 by Robert de Romille, lord of the multiple estates of Bolton Abbey. Shortly after 1102 Henry I extended Romille's lands to include all of upper Wharfedale and upper Airedale. The earth and wood castle was rebuilt in stone to withstand attacks by the Scots. The cliffs behind the castle, dropping down to Eller Beck, made the castle a perfect defensive structure. The Romille line died out. 

In 1310 Edward II granted the castle to Robert Clifford who was appointed Lord Clifford of Skipton and Guardian of Craven. Robert Clifford ordered many improvements to the fortifications, but died in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 when the improvements were barely complete. Skipton was raided by the Scots during The Great Raid of 1322, yet the castle, with all its improvements, withstood the attack.

During the English Civil War the castle was the only Royalist stronghold in the north of England until December 1645. After a three-year siege, a surrender was negotiated in 1645 between Oliver Cromwell and the Royalists. Cromwell slighted the castle by ordering the removal of the roofs. Legend has it that during the siege, sheep fleeces were hung over the walls to deaden the impact from the rounds of cannon fire. Sheep fleeces feature in the town's coat of arms. Skipton remained the Cliffords' principal seat until 1676. Lady Anne Clifford (1590–1676) was the last Clifford to own it. After the siege, she ordered repairs and she planted a yew tree in the central courtyard to commemorate its repair after the war.

The yew tree, now over 9 feet in girth was planted as a sapling in 1659 by Lady Anne Clifford following her restoration of the castle.

The courtyard at Skipton Castle 

Portrait of John Tufton (1609–1664), 2nd Earl of Thanet painted by William Dobson (1611–1646) held by the Abbot Hall Art Gallery

Lady Anne's daughter, Lady Margaret Sackville (1614–1676), married John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet (1609–1664) and the castle was then passed down through the Tufton family, becoming the seat of Lord Hothfield in 1871.

Lady Anne's Way is a 100-mile hiking route between Skipton and Penrith in Northern England. The trail is punctuated by houses and towers once owned by the Clifford family, but is named after Lady Anne Clifford who renovated and repaired the buildings in the 17th century. The route goes through Grassington, Buckden, Askrigg, Garsdale Head, Kirkby Stephen, Great Ormside, Appleby-in-Westmorland and Penrith.

Today Skipton Castle is a well-preserved medieval castle and is a tourist attraction and private residence. The castle is the start of the 100-mile Lady Anne's Way long-distance path to Penrith.

Further Reginaldus Flandrensis witnessed a Skipton charter around 1130. "He held an office of trust as Seneschall of Skipton Castle, and we must assume that these lands were given to him at about that time as a reward for his services. They amounted to 1 Knight's fee and 14 carucates, and were held under Skipton Castle for feudal service."

The castle has six drum towers, with a domestic range connecting two towers on the northern side, protected by a precipice overlooking the Eller Beck. The first floor comprises the original kitchen, great hall, withdrawing rooms and the lord's bedchamber. New kitchens, storage and work cellars make up the ground floor. The remaining towers are military in nature and purpose. In the 16th and 17th centuries were added a new entrance staircase (replacing the original drawbridge), a further domestic wing, and larger windows in the original structure. The roof is fully intact. In the centre is a Tudor courtyard, the Conduit Court, which contains a yew tree, reputedly planted by Lady Anne in 1659.

The outer curtain wall encloses the inner wards and subsidiary buildings, including the ruins of a 12th-century chapel. The wall is mainly extant, and is pierced by a twin-towered Norman gatehouse. The east tower of the gatehouse contains a 17th-century shell grotto, one of two remaining grottos from this period. (The other is at Woburn Abbey.)

The 12th-century chapel of St John the Evangelist

Pendennis Castle

 Pendennis Castle (Cornish: Penn Dinas, meaning "headland fortification") is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, England between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Carrick Roads waterway at the mouth of the River Fal. The original, circular keep and gun platform was expanded at the end of the century to cope with the increasing Spanish threat, with a ring of extensive stone ramparts and bastions built around the older castle. Pendennis saw service during the English Civil War, when it was held by the Royalists, and was only taken by Parliament after a long siege in 1646. It survived the interregnum and Charles II renovated the fortress after his restoration to the throne in 1660.

Hever Castle, Kent, England

 

Stirling, Scotland

Dolbadarn Castle, Snowdonia, Wales

Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire, England

Sherborne Castle, Dorset, England

Corby Castle, Lake District, England

Halloween at Muncaster Castle

Hever castle

Dover Castle

Castell Coch

Castell Coch is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of Tongwynlais in South Wales. The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081, to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff Gorge. Abandoned shortly afterwards, the castle's earth motte was reused by Gilbert de Clare as the basis for a new stone fortification, which he built between 1267 and 1277 to control his freshly annexed Welsh lands. This castle was likely destroyed in the native Welsh rebellion of 1314. In 1760, the castle ruins were acquired byJohn Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, as part of a marriage settlement that brought the family vast estates in South Wales.

Belfast Castle, Ireland

Belfast Castle is set on the slopes of Cavehill Country Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland in a prominent position 400 feet above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views of the city of Belfast and Belfast Lough.

Highclere Castle

Highclere Castle /ˈhaɪklɪər/ is a country house in the Jacobethan style, with a park designed by Capability Brown. The 5,000-acre estate is in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom, about 5 miles south of Newbury, Berkshire. 

The White Tower, Tower of London, England

The Tower of London, officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. 

Sissington castle

Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, in England at Sissinghurst village, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is grade I listed.

Ludlow Castle, England

Warwick Castle . Warwickshire, England

Warwick Castle  is a medieval castle developed from an original built by William the Conqueror in 1068. Warwick is the county town ofWarwickshire, England, situated on a bend of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-and-bailey castle was rebuilt in stone in the 12th century. During theHundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified, resulting in one of the most recognisable examples of 14th century military architecture. It was used as a stronghold until the early 17th century, when it was granted to Sir Fulke Greville by James I in 1604. Greville converted it to a country house and it was owned by the Greville family, who became Earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978 when it was bought by the Tussauds Group. In 2007, the Tussauds Group merged with Merlin Entertainments, which is the current owner of Warwick Castle.

Bodiam Castle

Bodiam Castle is a 14th-century moated castle. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years’ War.
Bodiam Castle has a quadrangular plan. It has no keep, having its various chambers built around the outer defensive walls and inner courts. The corners and entrance are marked by towers, topped by crenellations.
It was the home of the Dalyngrigge family and the centre of the manor of Bodiam. The castle is protected as a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Monument. It has been owned by The National Trust since 1925, when it was donated by Lord Curzon on his death. It is open to the public.