Warkworth Castle: Colour Handbook by Henry Summerson

Castle near Alnwick in Northumberland

Warkworth Castle, near Alnwick in Northumberland, is an example of a medieval aristocratic fortified residence. It is a large, complex and ancient structure. Every century from the 12th to the 20th left its mark on it. Its development came to comprise, in effect, two castles, one laid out round the outer bailey and the other in the keep.

History of Warkworth Castle

This handbook Warkworth Castle explains the history of the castle, from its beginnings to the reign of Henry VIII. It explains the purpose of the castle and its position in medieval society. There is also a descriptive tour of the remaining buildings, written as if the reader were visiting the site in 1532.

Normans

Norman in origin, the castle was taken over by the Percy family of Alnwick Castle in 1332. Later that century, Henry Percy, the first Earl of Northumberland, allowed the castle to be the home of his eldest son, Harry Hotspur.
The magnificent cross-shaped keep of Warkworth, crowning a hilltop rising steeply above the River Coquet, dominates one of the largest, strongest and most impressive fortresses in northern England.