Edlingham Castle is located a few miles to the south west of Alnwick in Northumberland.
In around 1300 a stone hall house was built by Sir William Felton. At around the same time the Anglo-Scottish wars were raging and many of the landed gentry fortified their homes. Felton was no exception, adding fortifications to the house and making it a formidable defensive stronghold.
In around 1340 the magnificent Solar Tower was added at the southern end of the house. In the mid-17th century the house was abandoned as a dwelling. It fell into disrepair and much of its stone was cannibalised for other buildings.
By the end of the 19th century only the solar tower was visible on top of a grassy mound. The low lying remains, which you see today, were later excavated by English Heritage.
Despite now being called Edlingham Castle, it was not truly a castle - more of a fortified family home. Behind these walls there was no garrison of soldiers to fight off the marauding Scots; only a family and their servants trying to defend what was theirs.
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