Hellvellyn's Views
Lake District & North East England Photography
Raby Castle
Raby Castle, Staindrop, Nr Barnard Castle, Co. Durham.
Website: http://www.rabycastle.com/
On my first visit to Raby, I was somewhat shocked a the entrance fees. Being privately owned by Lord Barnard, the fees are rather extravagant comapred to National Trust or English Heritage sites. However, I was soon to learn that the £9 for a single adult was money well spent! The castle itself is exquisitely furnished, with works of art on every wall, nook and cranny. It takes half a day just to explore the numerous rooms open to the public; not just one or two with annoying barriers preventing exploring the parts you really want to. It seems every room is open at Raby.
The gardens often host various shows throughout the year which are ususlly advertised on the website. http://www.rabycastle.com/news_events.htm
(for some reason the picture from the walled garden won't display!)
This is Nevilles Gateway with the unusually aligned towers.
Bulmer's Tower; the oldest part of the castle.
Taken from the lakeside.
This beats a burglar alarm. I just hope they don't use it in modern warfare!
The castle from the lake.
Not many castles boast deer in their grounds.
As you can see, it's very easy to spend a full day here; if they extend their openig times that is!