If you are looking for a great day out in or around Newbury and Berkshire, you can’t go far wrong by visiting one of our historic castles. We are richly blessed with three, all of which are completely different to each other.
Highclere Castle
On Newbury’s doorstep is Highclere Castle – which has particularly come into the public eye since it became ‘Downton Abbey’ in ITV’s award-winning period drama of the same name.
Fiction aside, it is the real-life home of the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, who open it to visitors on around 60–70 days annually (traditionally over Easter, on the May bank holidays and for two months during the summer) but special tours for groups are arranged regularly at other times and several charity events are held in the grounds each year, such as the Battle Proms.
The Victorian building might not look how one traditionally imagines a castle, but it is certainly a beautiful structure, and was built by Sir Charles Barry, the same architect who designed the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. As well as the rooms in the magnificent building, there is the Egyptian Exhibition to be enjoyed. Many people link the name Lord Carnarvon with the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. Indeed it was the 5th Earl, the present Earl’s great-grandfather, who, along with Howard Carter, made the amazing discovery in the 1920s. Here at Highclere you can see antiquities from their excavations, as well as replicas from the Egyptian boy-pharaoh’s tomb itself.
But there is other Highclere history to be enjoyed, too: very recently, Lady Carnarvon has written two books on two of her predecessors, the 5th and 6th Countesses. Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey and Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey have been carefully and lovingly researched, and make fascinating reading.
The Castle nestles in the countryside on the outskirts of Newbury in 1,000 acres of parkland. The grounds are well worth a visit, and visitors can enjoy the tearooms here for refreshments and lunches, and browse the gift shop.
You can now even stay in the grounds of Highclere Castle in London Lodge, the spectacular Georgian entrance lodge to the estate. Built in 1793, it has recently been restored by Lord and Lady Carnarvon and is available to rent for one or two nights.
Donnington Castle
Centuries older than Highclere Castle is the one at Donnington, just a mile north of Newbury and offering fabulous views over the Lambourn Valley. It is free to visit Donnington Castle to view the exterior ruins, and the car park is open all year round during daylight hours.
Donnington Castle is now in the care of English Heritage, and although all that survives of the 14th-century building is its twin-towered two-storey gatehouse, it has a rich, and at times royal, history.
It was Richard II who granted permission to Lord of the manor of Donnington, Sir Richard Abberbury, to build a castle here, in a commanding position on major routes heading north-south and east-west. Even today, one has a sense of the luxury that Abberbury would have enjoyed in his private quarters here. In the early 15th century the Castle was purchased by Thomas Chaucer, whose father was the famous poet, Geoffrey, before becoming the property of the Crown. It is reported that Henry VIII stayed here in 1539, as did his daughter Elizabeth I almost 30 years later.
Donnington Castle came to prominence in the English Civil War, when Charles I instructed his troops to take possession from the Parliamentarians. The fortress was attacked many times during the two year period spanning 1644–46, eventually being surrendered to the Roundheads. Parliament chose to demolish the badly damaged castle in 1646, leaving only the gatehouse standing, though the Civil War defences survive around the slopes of the hill. It was to be another 300 years before the remains of the Castle came into guardianship of the state.
There are footpaths that take in Donnington Castle, so today it is much enjoyed by walkers and cyclists.
Windsor Castle
Just 45 minutes drive from Newbury is a jewel in the county’s crown: Windsor Castle, one of the official royal homes of none other than Queen Elizabeth II, who spends many weekends here. When the Royal Standard is flying from the Round Tower, visitors know Her Majesty is in residence.
Berkshire is proud to be home to this, the world’s oldest – and indeed largest – inhabited castle, open to the public on nearly every day of the year, though some parts of it are closed on certain days for ceremonial or state events. Full details are available from the website: www.royalcollection.org.uk.
The splendid ramparts of Windsor Castle dominate the town and river. The original building was founded by William the Conqueror around c.1080 and it has been used by British royalty ever since.
The Castle building itself covers an area of approximately 13 acres, set within grounds of 26 acres. There is much to see within the walls of the Castle, including the State Apartments, Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House and St George’s Chapel, one of the finest examples of late-Gothic architecture in England.
With its 4,800 acres, much of Windsor Great Park, stretching south from the Castle, is free for visitors to wander at leisure and enjoy picnics, walking and cycling. The area was once a hunting ground popular with Saxon kings and for hundreds of years stories of the ghostly Herne the Hunter have been told. The spectre, wearing antlers, is said to gallop through the park on a black stallion with hounds at its heels, before disappearing into thin air ...
And there you have Berkshire’s castles: isn’t it time you visited?
