Alnwick - Landmarks

Landmarks

The town's greatest building is Alnwick Castle, one of the homes the Duke of Northumberland, and site of The Alnwick Garden; it dominates the west of the town, above the River Aln. The Castle is the hub of a number of commercial, educational and tourism operations. From 1945 to 1975, it was the location of a teacher training college for young women and "mature students" (persons of more than 21 years in age). Currently, it houses American students studying in Europe through a partnership with Saint Cloud State University; is the base of Northumberland Estates, the Duke's commercial enterprise; and is in its own right a tourist attraction. The castle is open from April to September, and the Gardens all year around. It is the second largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor. Benjamin Disraeli describes Alnwick as 'Montacute' in his novel Tancred.

The centre of town is the marketplace, with its market cross, and the relatively modern Northumberland Hall, used as a meeting place. Surrounding the marketplace are the main shopping streets, Narrowgate, Fenkle Street, and Bondgate Within. The last of these is a wide, spacious road fronted by attractive commercial buildings. In mediaeval times, Alnwick was a walled town (although fluctuating economic situations in the Middle Ages meant the walls were never completed), and one remain—Hotspur Tower, a mediaeval gate—is extant, dividing Bondgate Within from Bondgate Without, and restricting vehicles to a single lane used alternately in each direction. Pottergate Tower, at the other side of the town, also stands on the site of an ancient gate, but the tower itself was rebuilt in the 18th century. Its ornate spire was destroyed in a storm in 1812. Outside the line of the walls, the old railway station building is relatively ostentatious for such a small town, arising out of its frequent use by royal travellers visiting the Duke and Alnwick Castle. It is now a large secondhand bookshop.

The town has a thriving playhouse, a multi-purpose arts centre, which stages a hectic programme of theatre, dance, music, cinema, and visual arts exhibitions, and supports a weekly local newspaper—the Northumberland Gazette.

In 2003, the Willowburn Sports and Leisure Centre was opened on the southern outskirts of the enlarged town (replacing the old sports centre located by the Lindisfarne Middle School and the now-demolished Youth Centre). More widely, the Alnwick district boasts a wealth of sporting and leisure facilities, including football, cricket, rugby, rambling, rock climbing, water sports, cycling and horse riding. Golfers can find thirteen golf courses within 30 minutes drive of the town.

The castle is popular with film-makers: Harry Potter; Blackadder and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves are some of the films shot here.

Alnwick has its own museum, Bailiffgate Museum whose collection is specifically dedicated to local social history. The collection includes a variety of agricultural objects, domestic items, railway items, coal mining artefacts, printing objects, a sizable photographic collection, paintings and the bound volumes of The Northumberland Gazettes. Local artist Stella Vine donated 3 of her paintings to the museum, as she had grown up in Alnwick.

Other places of interest in and near the town include:

• Brizlee Tower, a Grade 1 listed folly tower set atop a hill in Hulne Park, the Duke's walled estate, designed by Robert Adam in 1777 and erected in 1781 for Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland.
• Camphill Column, an 1814 construction celebrating British victories in Europe, and possibly erected as a reaction against the French Revolution.
• the Hotspur Tower, part of the remains of the ancient town wall, and named for Sir Henry Percy, also called Harry Hotspur, the eldest son of the 1st Earl of Northumberland and a major character in Henry IV, Part 1.
• the Nelson Memorial, Swarland, emphasising a local link to the admired Admiral.
• the Tenantry Column—much in the style of Nelson's Column, 83 feet (25 m) tall and topped by the Percy Lion, symbol of the Percy family—designed by Charles Harper and erected for Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland in 1816 in gratitude to the Duke. A popular urban legend states that, in response to this display of wealth, the Duke immediately increased the tenants' rent. In reality the later rent increase was under his successor, the 3rd Duke of Northumberland.
• the White Swan Hotel, an 18th Century Coaching Inn that now houses the First Class Lounge and other fittings from the Titanic's near identical sister ship RMS Olympic.
• the Northumberland Fusiliers Museum, found within Alnwick Castle.
• the Pinfold, a stone circular structure within the centre of the town, built to imprison stray cattle.
• RAF Boulmer, which serves as the base for an air-sea rescue helicopter, and has a role in early warning radar surveillance and communications.