📌 Craster, Northumberland
★★★
Located halfway between Craster and Embleton on the heavily-defended Northumbrian coast, Dunstanburgh is one of the region’s largest castles in terms of square footage. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster built the kilometre-long curtain wall in the early 1300s, with much of the inner ward being reworked by John of Gaunt later in the same century. After an eventual few years during the Wars of the Roses the castle fell into disrepair. The bits and pieces which survive today look a bit sparse (particularly if you approach the castle from the north side) but include an imposing gatehouse, inner ward and a clutch of other towers. In spring and summer, the side of the outer ward furthest from the main entrance gives wonderful views of seabirds nesting on Gull Crag’s cliffs, only safely visible by purchasing a ticket for the castle. This is such a key draw that we’ve given the razorbills and kittiwakes their own feature page here. The nearest road is about a mile’s walk from the castle – see below for details on the shortest route, or (even better) follow the coast path north from Craster, described here.
🌍 Location
📌 By the coast 1 mi north of Craster
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NU 257218
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.489395,-1.595170
❌ No public transport within 1 mi. Craster (1.5 mi) has a bus service
🚗 Nearest car park is at Dunstan Steads, 1 mi east of Embleton, 🧭 NU 245224 / 🛰️ 55.494788,-1.614653 (1 mi to north via coast path). Or walk from Craster (1.5 mi) as linked above
📝 Key info
⌚ Daily, April to 3 November & February school holidays; Wednesday to Sunday in March, weekends, 9 November to February
🎫 £7.20+ adult / £4+ child depending on season / free for English Heritage members – discount for booking online in advance
