Dunstanburgh Castle

Dunstanburgh Castle

Location

Dunstanburgh Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6, UK
Northumberland
NE66
England

Special Interest

An awe-inspiring sight, Dunstanburgh Castle stands proudly at the edge of the coast, and although is now in ruins, has been proven in the last one hundred years to have been in use for much longer than originally thought.

Built in the early 14th century by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, Dunstanburgh Castle was an imposing and impressive testament to the wealthiest nobleman in England at the time, although it's doubtful that he saw the Castle more than once.

Although Earl Thomas was later executed for his role in the barons’ rebellion against Edward II, the castle was extensively modernised less than a generation later in the 1380s by John of Gaunt. A Lancastrian supported during the  Wars of the Roses (1455-1485), the Castle but fell into disrepair at the end of the Middle Ages.

In the past hundred years, archaeological finds of shards of prehistoric and Roman pottery, Iron Age millstones, a Roman brooch and hearths of the 1st century BC and 2nd century AD have been found on the site. Analysis has also been done on the ridge-and-furrow field system, and the earlier earth bank, and these also indicate that the site was of importance before the building of the Castle, at least as far back as the Iron Age.

Map

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