Alnwick Castle Exterior
Still the home of the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, the castle itself is extensive, with a 14th century keep surrounded by vast, walled courtyards (or 'baileys'). The castle buildings and grounds include:
- 14th century keep with moat (empty of water).
- Inner and Outer Baileys (grass and cobbled pathways).
- Inner Courtyard (cobbled) with vaulted Salvin-designed porte cochère leading to the State Rooms.
- Accessible ramparts on the outer walls.
- 15th century fortified gatehouse (Barbican).
- Numerous 14th-19th century towers in the outer walls.
- Gun Terrace with panoramic views of unspoilt 'Capability' Brown landscape and River Aln.
Alnwick Castle interiors
The interior State Rooms are in lavish Italian Renaissance style, renovated in the 1850s by the 4th Duke of Northumberland and boast one of the finest private art and furniture collections in the country. These rooms include:
- Lower Guard Chamber; the walls are hung with well over 1,000 items of the arms of the Percy Tenantry Volunteers, including powder horns, swords, and muskets.
- Grand Staircase; walls of Carrara marble and a groin-vaulted ceiling with foliated stucco ornament by Taccolozzi, each step is made of a single piece of stone measuring 12 feet long.
- Upper Guard Chamber; mosaic floor in Venetian style by Giovanni Montiroli, 26 foot high ceiling in Italianate stucco with William IV chandelier.
- Ante-Library; carved and gilded ceiling, marble chimneypiece by Giovanni Taccalozzi with figures by Nucci.
- Library; designed by Giovanni Montiroli with a carved ceiling by Anton Bulletti, holding 14,500 books dating from 1475.
- Saloon; Carrara marble fireplace by Taccalozzi with 6 foot figures by Nucci, friezes by Alessandro Mantovani, gilt-framed mirror by Giovanni Montiroli.
- Drawing Room; including a pair of cabinets made by Domenico Cucci for Louis XIV of France, marble chimneypiece figures by Nucci, gold carved ceiling by Giovanni Montiroli.
- Dining Room; renovated medieval banqueting hall with marble chimneypiece figures by Nucci and Strazza, emerald green silked walls, carved pine ceiling
- China Gallery; walls decorated with Meissen, Chelsea, and Paris porcelain.
- Chapel; designed by Salvin with Gothic ceiling and lancet windows, mosaic marble walls hung with tapestries (two of which from Paris c.1625)
- Breakfast Room; renovated by Robert Adam in 1760s, flat stucco ceiling in heraldic design, walls hung with 19th century heavily embossed paper in imitation leather.
Surrounding parkland
The surrounding Hulne Park encompasses hundreds of acres of beautiful countryside, including woodland and rivers. The following buildings can be found in the Northumberland Estates parklands:
- Hulne Abbey, a semi- ruined 13th century Carmelite monastery.
- Alnwick Abbey Gatehouse, built in the 14th century.
- Ratcheugh Observatory, an 18th century folly designed by Robert Adam.
- Brizlee Tower, an 18th century monument also designed by Robert Adam.