THE BEST CASTLES TO VISIT IN ENGLAND
Five must-visit castles in England for this summer (and beyond)
It’s not very long now till my new book, Castles: A Fortified History of the World, comes out. (For those who pre-order - UK edition here and US edition here.)
So I thought I’d start a new series of posts about the best castles to visit.
The book ranges across the world, from Britain to Japan and Scandinavia to South Carolina. But I’m going to begin the series at home, in England.
If you’re planning a trip this summer, these are five of the English castles I think are most worth your time.
I’ll post again soon with Welsh and Scottish castles. French castles? German? Italian? American? Where else would you like me to include? File your requests in the comments below.
1. The Tower of London
I mean, duh.
On the one hand, I’d like to make this a hipster, off-the beaten track list of the best castles in England. But come on. The Tower is the big kahuna. The mac daddy. Probably most extraordinary and storied fortress in the western world.
Founded by William the Conqueror to overawe Londoners in the months after the Battle of Hastings, the Tower has expanded over the last nine and a half centuries to occupy an iconic plot on the edge of the City. The White Tower at the centre stands on the same footprint the Normans planned, while around it are now walls and towers and barracks that absolutely teem with history.
The medieval palace tells a story about its Plantagenet heyday; the armoury in the White Tower hold Henry VIII’s ‘never mind the Wegovy’ era armour; the spot where Anne Boleyn lost her head is a pilgrimage site of sorts for Tudor romantics; the Crown Jewels are unbelievably dazzling; the stairs where the Princes in the Tower may (or may not lol) have been buried after their murder is there. There are the ravens, the old mint, the Yeoman Warders… exhibitions on the Peasants’ Revolt and the royal menagerie that once contained an elephant and a polar bear.
With apologies to Windsor, if you only visit one castle in England, this should probably be the one.
2. Maiden Castle
Okay, so now we have a hipster choice. Is Maiden Castle a castle? Absolutely, if you listen to the Oxford English Dictionary. (If you want my hot take on what a castle actually is, I get to it in the introduction to the new book.)
