About Alnwick
The history, geography, and character of Alnwick.
Alnwick is a market town in north Northumberland, a few miles inland from the coast at Alnmouth, and the name is said Annick: Wiktionary gives /ˈænɪk/, with the l and the w silent. It is the Percys' town. The family bought the castle in 1309, became Dukes of Northumberland in 1766, and still live there; their estate company also owns Hulne Park, the Bailiffgate Hotel and much else. Most visitors come for the castle, which played Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films, and for The Alnwick Garden next to it. The town itself is stone-built streets inside the line of the medieval walls, a cobbled Market Place, and a secondhand bookshop in the old railway station.
History & Heritage
The Percys and the castle
The castle's own figures are short: 1309, the year the Percys bought it; 1766, when George III made them dukes; twelve Dukes of Northumberland at Alnwick since. The castle opens to visitors from the end of March to October and closes for the winter, because it is a family home and not a monument in care. Filming for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone began there in the autumn of 2000, and the castle says Harry's first flying lesson was shot in the Outer Bailey, where Broomstick Training now runs. Downton Abbey and Transformers also filmed there. The Duke is still Lord of the Manor at Shrovetide: the ball is thrown off the castle barbican by his permission.
The walls and the Bondgate
The Bondgate Tower, also called the Hotspur Gate, is the surviving east gate of the town walls. Its listing dates it to after 1434, around 1450, built by the second Earl of Northumberland, with portcullis slits and a faded carved lion on the outer face. Traffic still runs through its single arch. Inside the old line of the walls are Bondgate Within, the Market Place with the arcaded Northumberland Hall, Narrowgate and Bailiffgate, which runs to the castle gate; outside are Bondgate Without, the Playhouse and the road down to the old station.
The station that became a bookshop
The branch line from Alnmouth no longer runs into town, and Alnwick station closed in 1968. Barter Books has filled the building since, with the canopy re-exposed, the fireplaces lit in winter, a model railway running over the shelves and a buffet in a room the staff found in 2008, untouched since the trains stopped. The shop calls itself the home of the original Keep Calm and Carry On poster, the 1939 HMSO design. The Aln Valley Railway, a volunteer heritage line, has run trains since 2013 from a new station at Lionheart on the edge of town, and its stated aim is to reach Alnmouth again.
Shrovetide
On Shrove Tuesday the parishes of St Michael's and St Paul's play football on the Pastures, the field below the castle by the River Aln. In 2026, per the Town Council's notice, the ball was thrown off the barbican at 2pm and a piper led the parade down to the kick-off. The first side to score two hales wins, there are small cash prizes for each hale and for good play, and at the end the ball is kicked into the river; whoever lands it on the far bank keeps it.
A room from the Olympic
The White Swan on Bondgate Within, which its listing calls a former coaching inn and still the principal hotel, is listed partly for its interior: the Olympic Room at the back was fitted out with salvage from RMS Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic, which was broken up at Jarrow in 1935.
Wildlife & Nature
Mammals
Red squirrels in Hulne Park
Northumberland Estates says Hulne Park is home to a good population of red squirrels and asks walkers to report sightings to Red Squirrels Northern England.
All year; easiest to see in autumn