Dunstanburgh Castle

For 3 weeks in November 2003, English Heritage's Landscape Investigation Team carried out a - wait for it - 'landscape investigation' of  Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland, together with a big chunk of its surrounding - yes, you've guessed it - landscape. Every day while the investigation was in progress, we updated a web diary, so you can follow our progress: click here to start on Day 1.

The jagged ruins of the castle are spectacular in themselves and, perched on the cliffs high above the North Sea, occupy one of the most dramatic settings of any castle in Britain. Dunstanburgh was built in 1313 by Earl Thomas of Lancaster, arch-rival of Edward II and by far the richest and most powerful man in England after the King. In the 1380s, it was modified by John of Gaunt, another political giant, so wealthy that he had his own special tax bracket!

 It had long been thought that the castle was built in response to raids by the Scots, a simmering conflict which culminated in the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, just as the castle's construction was coming to an end. However, it's always been admitted that the castle was a failure in military terms: it lay way off the main invasion routes and was ineffective at preventing the Scots' raids. Which immediately raised a key question for us to try to answer: why was the castle built here - miles from anywhere? Other old theories were based on direct historical evidence: documents indicated that there had been a harbour, and this was thought to have occupied a boggy inlet on the south of the castle. The digging of a 'Great Ditch' was also mentioned in 1313: it was thought that this might have linked the tidal inlets on the north and south of the castle, forming a moat around the headland. To understand the castle better and pass this understanding on to visitors, we needed to know how far these theories could be relied on.  

The National Trust own this beautiful stretch of coastline, but the castle itself is looked after by English Heritage, so for this project, the two organisations teamed up and worked closely together. The National Trust obviously wanted to know more about the castle, but were equally keen to find out more about a Second World War radar station a mile to the south. Unlocking all the secrets of this historic landscape will allow both organisations to offer more options to visitors. Over the course of 3 weeks, our investigation put paid to a number of old myths, but produced some amazing new discoveries, which have led to a completely new understanding of Dunstanburgh's purpose and importance. And all just by looking carefully at the traces that can be seen with the naked eye, and thinking hard about what they tell us. You can also visit the castle and make the same discoveries for yourself - or perhaps new ones - it's not impossible we've missed something! In the meantime, we're back indoors again, writing the report on our discoveries, but we'll be updating this page as soon as we have more to add.

If you want to find out more, you can e-mail any questions to us at English Heritage's York office, where we're based: al.oswald@english-heritage.org.uk