This week sees the release of
Lions of the North, a new book by Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, which explores the long and eventful history of Alnwick Castle and the Percy family.
In conjunction with the release of the book, the Duke of Northumberland took Dan Snow, one of Britain's most popular historians, on a tour of Alnwick Castle for his
History Hit podcast.
You can listen to the episode
here.
Dan and the Duke travel all over the grounds and through the State Rooms during Dan's Alnwick Castle visit and it makes for a fascinating listen in anticipation of an equally fascinating read!
To help you visualise where each part of the podcast takes place, we have compiled the guide below. You could even use the podcast as an audio tour for your visit to Alnwick Castle!
1 (4:47 on the podcast) - The Barbican
2 (9:50 on the podcast) - The Outer Bailey
Here the Duke discusses the towers to the left as you exit the Barbican. Of these towers, the Falconer's Tower is on the right, and the Abbot's Tower (the Fusiliers Museum of Northumberland) is on the left.
At 13:20 on the podcast, Dan and the Duke turn left to walk towards the Clock Tower.
3 (13:28 on the podcast) - The Castle Courtyard and Coach House
4 (18:20 on the podcast) The Inner Bailey
The stretch of wall described by the Duke at 18:50 is straight ahead of you as you enter the Inner Bailey from the Middle Arch of the Castle. The Record Tower is on the right of this (as you enter) and the Constable's Tower on the left.
5 (20:44 on the podcast) The Octagonal Towers
6 (23:08 on the podcast) The Postern Tower and domestic buildings
The buildings described, like the bakehouse, are no longer standing but as the Duke describes, you can still know where they were from marks left on the walls. The sally-port steps can be seen descending underneath the entrance to the Postern Tower.
7 (24:29 on the podcast) The Gun Terrace
8 (26:35 on the podcast) Entrance into the Inner Courtyard and Keep
Return to the Octagonal Towers and approach the State Rooms to see the features described at this point in the podcast.
9 (29:26 on the podcast) The State Rooms - The Lower Guard Chamber
At 30:35 Dan and the Duke ascend the Grand Staircase into the Upper Guard Chamber, and then through the door to the left (as you reach the top of the stairs) into the Ante Library by 33:13, when the fresco paintings by Sebastiano del Piombo are mentioned.
10 (33:48 on the podcast) The State Rooms - The Library
At 35:55, Dan and the Duke move ahead into the Saloon, or Music Room. The portrait of Henrietta Maria mentioned in the podcast can be seen on the right as you enter the room, and the portrait of the Percy heiress is the second of the three portraits above it. The paintings of Alnwick Castle and Northumberland House are straight ahead as you enter the room, with the two paintings by Dobson on the right of Northumberland House.
11 (39:14 on the podcast) The State Rooms - The Red Drawing Room
12 (39:50 on the podcast) The State Rooms - The Dining Room
The portrait of the 7th Earl is on the right as you enter the room.
We hope you enjoy listening to the podcast, and that it encourages you to pick up a copy of
Lions of the North!
To listen to the podcast, visit
here.
To find out more about
Lions of the North, visit
here.