Last year I treated us to English Heritage membership. To be fair it was a no brainer. Membership for two adults, with L free, is £30 in Tesco Clubcard Vouchers. So it was next to no money. L loves castles, English Heritage have a lot. It’s free days out for a year.
I’m going to try to write about all the properties we visit using our membership. What I liked, didn’t like, share some pictures. We’ve already made our money back on the membership, so I am very happy it is good value for money.
Prudhoe Castle – Northumberland
We visited Barnard Castle whilst we were on holiday in County Durham last year. We were staying with Verdant Leisure at Heather View in Stanhope and Prudhoe was a beautiful drive away. 
I had been flicking through our English Heritage Guide before we went away and obviously took it with us too. Prudhoe Castle stood out as somewhere I wanted to visit as it just looked so pretty and I was not disappointed. 
Facilities
The Castle has a small shop and bathrooms. There is a small car park attached to the site, if that is full I’m sure there would be some in town but quite a hill to contend with. There are picnic benches if you bring your own food. 
The Castle
The castle has several areas to explore., though I’ll be honest I think they could have maybe opened up more as there seemed to be a lot of parts we couldn’t access.
Inside the castle walls you will find a Georgian Mansion, this is where the gift shop is found as well as what looked like a lovely display about the castle and it’s history. L had no interest in letting us read any of this unfortunately. He had exploring in mind and explore he did. 
Still within the walls you can climb some steps to access the great hall and see some of the towers. There are lots of little nooks and crannies to be explored. Holes that can be hidden in, walls to be investigated and some very interesting bits of information to learn about the castle. 
This castle is moated, which is something I always enjoy and has a very large pond amd some gardens. You can walk around the moat through beautiful woodland and find the old mill which feels really secret and special, hidden in the woods and very quiet. For L it was a real adventure. For us the shade was a welcome break from the sun.
It really is a beautiful castle, aided by the glorious weather on the day of our visit. We didn’t explore the town, other than to grab some sandwiches before we headed off but it looked like there was plenty about.
Opening Times & Prices
| WITHOUT GIFT AID | WITH GIFT AID | |
|---|---|---|
| Member | Free | Free |
| Adult | £5.40 | £6.00 |
| Child (5-15 yrs) | £3.20 | £3.60 |
For full details of times and prices please visit the English Heritage Website, these are only a snapshot.
Overall
Whilst Prudhoe Castle didn’t take very long to look around, maybe just over an hour, I’m really glad we visited.
It is in a lovely location with a mix of things to see. L enjoyed being able to explore everything and it was nice that inside the castle walls there an enclosed area we could let him have plenty of freedom. 
I only wish we’d had time to fully look at the museum area inside.
I would rather like to go back and visit the castle again and explore a bit more. 