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Everyone knows at least one date in English history - 1066 - the year the invading Normans defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. In fact the conflict took place some seven miles north of Hastings, at a place then called Senlac. Here, William...

Apsley House, home of the first Duke of Wellington and his descendants, stands right in the heart of London at Hyde Park Corner. For over 200 years, this great metropolitan mansion has been known colloquially as 'Number 1 London', because it was...

Ashby Castle forms the backdrop to the famous jousting scenes in Sir Walter Scott's classic novel of 1819, Ivanhoe. Now a ruin, the castle began as a manor house in the 12th century. It only achieved castle status in the 15th century, by which time the...

One of the finest and most unaltered examples of a 13th-century English manor house, Aydon Castle stands in a secluded woodland setting. It was originally built as an undefended residence, but almost immediately fortified on the outbreak of...

Set on a high rock above the River Tees, imposing Barnard Castle was the stronghold of the Balliol family. Taking its name from Bernard de Balliol, who rebuilt it in the 12th century, it includes a fine great hall and a dominating round-towered...

Standing majestically on a sheer rocky crag, Beeston has perhaps the most stunning views of any castle in England.

Belsay has something for everyone. A fine medieval castle, enlarged into a mansion in the 17th century; the imposing Greek Revival villa which was built later; and the outstanding, plant-rich gardens linking the two buildings. The whole ensemble is the...

Tucked away in a steep wooded valley, Berry Pomeroy Castle is the perfect romantic ruin. Within the 15th-century defences of the Pomeroy family castle, still displaying a wall painting of the Three Kings in its gatehouse chamber, looms the dramatic...

The ruins of a medieval palace (together with later additions) used by the Bishops and senior clergy of Winchester as they travelled through their diocese. Winchester was the richest diocese in England, and its properties were grandiose and...

'By an unlikely miracle,' wrote the architectural historian Mark Girouard,'the keep at Bolsover has survived into this century as an almost untouched expression in stone of the lost world of Elizabethan chivalry and romance.' Dominating the countryside...

Picturesque Brougham Castle was begun in the early 13th century by Robert de Vieuxpont, near the site of a Roman fort guarding the crossing of the River Eamont. His great keep largely survives, reinforced by an impressive double gatehouse and other...

Byland was one of the great Yorkshire Cistercian abbeys, housing at its zenith well over 200 monks and lay brothers. Much of its huge cathedralsized church survives, including the whole north side and the greater part of the 13th-century west front. The...

This artillery fort, built by Henry VIII to defend the sea passage to Southampton, was recently used as a Navy and RAF base.

The ruins of an unusually unaltered artillery fort, built by Henry VIII to guard the port of Rye. There are monthly guided walks round Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, including the castle. Contact the Reserve Manager for further details.

Crowning a hilltop south of Newport, Carisbrooke Castle has been the key to the Isle of Wight's security for more than nine centuries. With its high Norman shellkeep at the core of everexpanded circuits of defences, Carisbrooke Castle is an exciting...

Impressive and forbidding, Carlisle Castle is a formidable fortress, amply repaying exploration of its absorbing 900-year history. Long commanding the especially turbulent western end of the Anglo-Scottish border, Carlisle has witnessed many conflicts...

One of the largest and best preserved monastic sites in England, the foundation of Castle Acre Priory in about 1090 sprang directly from a visit by William de Warenne II and his wife Gundrada to the great French monastery of Cluny. So impressed were they...

One of the largest, best preserved and most lavishly decorated keeps in England, surrounded by 20 acres of mighty earthworks. Begun in 1138 by William d'Albini for his new wife, the widow of Henry I, in the 14th century it became the luxurious...

The white, cylindrical keep of this 12th-century castle is a spectacular structure. Built of magnesian limestone, it is the only example of its kind in England. Restored, with two new floors and a roof, it is a fine example of medieval architecture, and...

This well-preserved and beautifully-sited castle juts out into the narrow entrance of the Dart estuary. Begun in the late 14th century, a defence called 'the Fortalice' was intended to protect the homes of Dartmouth merchants from shipborne attack. By...