Our first stop was Lancaster Castle.  We quickly learned that it was used as a prison from the 1200s to 2011.  We took the tour, which cost 2.50 pounds per person.  (There was a family discount rate.) The tour was only a half an hour and you get to enter two sections of the prison.  The tour guide had a quirky way of telling us its history and I enjoyed it.  She explained that a lot of people think it was built in the 1000s, but she (and several other tour guides) think it was built in the 1100s. She backs up this with facts from historical facts of the time as well as the structure of the keep itself.  

We first entered the section of the prison which is now a museum.  It used to house the male prisoners including the solitary confinement areas.  The guide pointed out all the light from the windows in the roof. This was a Victorian manner of creating a prison.  They wanted as much light as possible since there is little in the cells.  This picture does not show that each floor would have had a mesh covering so nothing (or no one) could be thrown from any height. This area is the newest part of the prison. 

The women’s section of the prison was older and it’s apparent in the pictures.  They first created it with the cells doors as just bars.  The angle in which is was built would allow guards to see the prisoners at any time.  This was good in theory, but it started to cause mental health problems with the prisoners so they had to put doors on the cells.  

There is also a tower called the Witches Tower.  This is because it once housed 19 “witches”.  Only four of them survived. This is where the famous Pendle witch trial was held.  They allowed a 9 year old girl to give testimony (due to the fact that children were innocent and therefore could see supernatural things), which set a precedent for the Salem Witch trials.  Her testimony sealed the fate of her mother, brother, and sister to be hanged.  Six other “witches” were hanged with them. I thought this was the most interesting part of the whole tour. 

The second “castle” we visited was listed as a country estate.  It was called Sizergh.  I want to note here that we had to pay for parking at every castle we visited except for the ruins.  Make sure that you have some coins to pay because the credit card option does not always work on the machines.  This estate also has numerous walking trails to explore.  You can buy tickets for just the gardens alone or both the house and gardens.  We wanted to see the house the most, so we got the combo ticket. They were 13 pounds a person.  

The family that owns the estate has lived there for over 700 years. The Strickland family acquired the house in 1239 after a marriage. They had pictures of the family in some of the rooms and there were a few modern pictures included. The house is decorated with a mixture of furniture from different time periods. You tour the house and grounds on your own.  You can watch a video narrated by one of the family members in the first room you enter.  We skipped this part and headed upstairs. In each room there was a piece of paper that described the room, the paintings, and some of the furniture.  There was sometimes a bit of history about the family when describing the paintings.  

The first room was the dining room.

The library had some impressive tapestries of Anthony and Cleopatra.  

I loved the sitting room with the inlaid furniture and beautiful blue wallpaper.

The carved wood paneling and the intricate ceiling decorations were incredible.

One bedroom finally answered my question as to why they call the toilet the water closet.  

The banquet room was very impressive as well as the paneled bedroom.  It was fun to walk back downstairs via the spiral staircase (although they do have a safer way to get back down).  

We walked the gardens a bit to get some prettier pictures of the house.  They had quite a few things for children and families to do together set up on the lawns.  The barn also had a second hand bookshop where you could make donations to get a book.  

We stopped in Kendal for lunch and then drove over to the Kendal Castle ruins.  It was a bit of a hike up the hill and although parking was free, it was a tight street to drive.  The views from the top were amazing.  I was disappointed to see that several sections had graffiti on it.  There were also kids that were actually climbing the stone of the ruins and jumping over barriers.  It makes me sad that there is so little respect for a historical place. 

Our last castle was a quick stop. The area was beautiful, but getting there was harrowing.  The drive was on a two lane road that really only fit one car.  We had to back up several times in order to pass another car.  It was stressful and I wasn’t even driving!  The views of the mountains and lakes were unreal and there were plenty of sheep to see as well.  This castle seemed to be more for families to come and spend the day.  It was free to enter, but all the rooms were empty, except for one that had a picture display and another had projects for children to do.  There were also stations for them to play outside as well.  Around the back of the castle there was a place to buy food and plenty of picnic tables to sit and enjoy the views. 

We plan on visiting a lot of castles during our visit, so if you like castles, keep an eye on my blog!