Lindisfarne, Northumberland
I’ve loved the wild Northumberland coast ever since I first encountered it nearly 50 years ago. Among its charms is a string of castles; Warkworth, Dunstanburgh and Berwick lie in ruin, while Bamburgh and my favourite, Lindisfarne, are still intact.
Lindisfarne stands guard over Holy Island, reached by a 3-mile long causeway at low tide. The castle sits atop a volcanic mound and was built in the 16th century from stones acquired from the dissolved priory. What particularly appeals to me is the castle’s split personality; outside it is a classic fortress while inside you find an Edwardian country house, designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. And though it is battered by northeasterly winds, delicate flowers thrive in the little walled garden designed around 100 years ago by Gertrude Jekyll, the plant expert who worked with Lutyens.

Open: 14 Mar-1 Nov, times vary
Admission: adults £6.30,children £3.10
Tel: 01289 389244 FIND OUT MORE

Dunluce, Antrim
For me, not many places can beat the splendour of Northern Ireland’s Antrim coast, crowned by the Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle. Built by the Normans on the site of an early Irish fort, the castle sits high on a rugged cliff, with a sheer drop down to the sea.
In 1584 it was captured from the English by a local chieftain, Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who later made peace with Queen Elizabeth I. But this alliance didn’t stop Sorley Boy giving shelter to survivors of a Spanish Armada ship, the Girona, which was wrecked during a storm off the Giant’s Causeway.
He salvaged the ship’s cannons and took its treasure to bring the place up-to-date. Maybe some of the work was substandard, because 50 years later the kitchen fell into the sea, taking the cooks with it.

Open: Apr-Sept, 10am-6pm; Oct-Mar, 10am-5pm
Admission: adults £2, children (5-16) £1, senior citizens £1
Tel: 028 2073 1938 FIND OUT MORE

Ludlow, Shropshire
I learnt to use a longbow at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire. Not in anger I hasten to add, but as a visitor enjoying the attractions. The fairs and festivals held today in the grounds can be traced back to Elizabethan times, when plays and masques were performed.
As a schoolboy I struggled to understand John Milton’s Comus, but more than 300 years earlier it had its premiere at Ludlow. Despite all the pleasantries, though, Ludlow was built for purpose – to hold back the invading Welsh.
The two princes murdered in the Tower of London spent most of their childhood at Ludlow Castle. Prince Arthur died of a heart attack on his honeymoon at Ludlow and his new wife, Catherine of Aragon, went on to marry his brother, Henry VIII.
Described by Daniel Defoe as “the very perfection of decay” the castle was saved from total ruin by successive Earls of Powis, and still dominates the black-and-white market town that is now famous as a centre of the Slow Food movement.

Open: Times vary, check website
Admission: adults £4.50, children (6-16) £2.50, senior citizens £4
Tel: 01584 873355 FIND OUT MORE

Berkeley, Gloucestershire
Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire is, by fortified castle standards, somewhat on the small side.
I’m told that when Princess Margaret was shown round she remarked: “We could get 20 of these into Windsor.”
But what this wonderful castle lacks in size it more than makes up for in history. Owned by the Berkeley family for 900 years, it has a notorious claim to fame: while being held prisoner there, King Edward II was murdered, and you can see the room where the dastardly deed was done.
He met his grisly end in 1327 on, it would seem, the orders of his queen, Isabella (who led a revolt against him and forced his abdication) and at the hands of an assassin armed with a red-hot poker. His magnificent tomb is in nearby Gloucester Cathedral.
Among Berkeley’s treasures is the chest used by Sir Francis Drake during his voyages on the Golden Hind. In the village of Berkeley there is a museum dedicated to a local doctor, Edward Jenner, who pioneered the use of vaccination to prevent smallpox in the 1790s.

Open: Days vary, check website
Admission: adults £7.50, children (5-16) £4.50, senior citizens £6
Tel: 01453 810332 FIND OUT MORE

Corfe, Dorset
There are some fine ways to approach Corfe Castle in Dorset. I walked there across the Purbeck Hills, but you can take the picturesque steam train from nearby Swanage. Most people, though, go by road to admire the dramatic ruins of what was one of England’s greatest strongholds.
Corfe shares a connection with Berkeley Castle – another king Edward was murdered there. After stag hunting in the nearby forest in 978, Edward the Martyr called on his stepmother Elfryda at Corfe. She’s said to have offered him a goblet of wine then had him stabbed in the back, which gives a whole new meaning to the concept of a wicked stepmother!
Corfe was a favourite of King John, who added luxury touches and many defences. Around 400 years later, during the English Civil War, it was twice besieged. During the second siege, an act of betrayal saw Parliamentary troops disguised as Royalist reinforcements gain entry, and they set about demolishing the castle to leave the ruins we see today. Many houses in the village below were built from its stones.

Open: Times vary, check website
Admission: adults £5.36, children (5-16) £2.68
Tel: 01929 481294 FIND OUT MORE

Belvoir, Leicestershire
When the Normans built a castle on a hilltop in Leicestershire, they called it Belvoir – ‘beautiful view’. Three castles on the same spot later, the name still holds true, even though it is now pronounced ‘beaver’. From the ramparts you can enjoy the wonderful view of rural Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire for yourself.
Back in 1840, the 5th Duchess of Rutland remarked that her home did not look much like a castle, so it was rebuilt in Norman and Gothic style. Just recently Belvoir was transformed into Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace for scenes in the new film The Young Victoria, but it is magnificent in its own right.
Perhaps the castle’s greatest treasure is Holbein’s famous full-length portrait of Henry VIII. The current custodian is the 11th Duke, whose family has owned Belvoir for exactly 500 years.
He tells me that among the many visitors every year are RAF teams, who literally drop in to the 12,000-acre estate and brush up on their survival techniques.

Open: All year round 11am-5pm (weekdays), 11am-4pm (Saturdays)
Admission: adults £10, children (5-16) £6, senior citizens £9
Tel: 01476 871002 FIND OUT MORE

Windsor, Berkshire
No list would be complete without Windsor, the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, spanning 900 years of British history, and one of the official residencies of Her Majesty the Queen. During her annus horribilis in 1992, fire damaged 100 rooms but fortunately few of the castle’s artistic treasures were lost. Restoration work was completed in 1997. Henry VIII is buried in the castle’s St George’s Chapel, alongside his third wife Jane Seymour.
When I was interviewing the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor some years ago, he realised that the military band marching outside was causing problems for our sound recordist. So he told his equerry to ask if the band would play a little more quietly – which it did. There’s power for you!

Open: Mar-Oct, 9.45am-5.15pm; Nov-Feb, 9.45am-4.15pm
Admission: adults £15.50, children (5-17) £9, senior citizens £14
Tel: 020 7766 7304 FIND OUT MORE

Castle Howard, North Yorkshire
This is the only castle on my list that is not a traditional fortified castle; instead it is the biggest, grandest house in Yorkshire, and that’s saying something! Not only is the house named after the family who have owned it since the 17th century, so are the surrounding Howardian Hills. Castle Howard was the work of Sir John Vanbrugh, who had never designed a building before. Such was his triumph that he went on to create Blenheim Palace.
I recorded the BBC Two series Castle in the Country in the house and grounds a couple of years ago and discovered that my co-host, chef James Martin, spent much of his childhood there – his father ran the catering!

Open: 16 Mar-1 Nov, 11am-4pm
Admission: adults £11, children (4-16) £7, senior citizens £10
Tel: 01653 648333 FIND OUT MORE

Caernarfon, Gwynedd   
The grandeur of Caernarfon Castle takes your breath away. Looking little different from the day it was completed nearly 700 years ago, it is said to have been modelled on the Roman city of Constantinople.
The castle was the birthplace of the first English Prince of Wales in 1284 and the title has been given to the eldest son of the reigning monarch ever since. The castle witnessed the investiture of Prince Charles in 1969.
There has been a fortress on the site overlooking the River Seiont and the Menai Strait since Roman times. King Edward I of England built the present castle after defeating the Welsh princes Llywelyn and Dafydd; it was one of several castles he ordered – others include Conwy and Harlech – to show who was in charge in Wales.

Open: Apr-Oct, 9am-5pm; Nov-Mar, 9.30am-4pm
Admission: adults £5.10, children (5-16) £4.70, senior citizens £4.70
Tel: 01286 677617 FIND OUT MORE

Glamis, Angus
Pronounced ‘glarms’, this fairytale castle looks to me more like a fortified French chateau and is renowned as the birthplace of the late Queen Mother. As a child, she saved Glamis from disaster by raising the alarm after spotting a fire that had broken out. Unlike most castles, which were built in commanding positions on hilltops, Glamis nestles in the folds of a lovely valley in the Scottish county of Angus.
The castle is said to be one of the most haunted in Britain. Among its many ghosts is Lady Grey, thought to be Lady Janet Douglas, who was burned at the stake as an alleged witch in 1537 by King James V of Scotland. I have recorded more than 20 programmes at Glamis and have never got even a whiff of anything supernatural, but I did suffer the indignity of being upended by the horns of one of the estate’s Highland cattle. I’m sure it was just being friendly and no harm was done, but I have this lasting impression of Glamis spinning all around me!

Open: 14 Mar-31 Oct, 10am-6pm; 1 Nov-30 Dec, 10am-4.30pm
Admission: adults £8.50, children (5-16) £5.30, senior citizens £7.50
Tel: 01307 840393 FIND OUT MORE

This article originally appeared in issue 21 of Countryfile Magazine. To never miss an issue, subscribe today

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