Dunstanburgh Castle is one of the most impressive and inspiring castles in England. Even in its present ruined state, it dominates the view throughout the necessary long walk to the site, either across the fields from the village of Embleton or along the coastal path from Craster. The castle fell into disrepair at the end of the Middle Ages, then became ruinous, a fitting subject for such artists as J M W Turner to depict, inevitably against the background of storms at sea, and for poets to imagine as the setting for Arthurian tales of dragons and sleeping maidens.
