We couldn't get into the house very early so visited NT Tattershall Castle on the way up. And UP is a good word because there are 149 steps from the ground floor up to the highest point we could reach. That's the row of little windows under the battlements.
The first building here was a small stone fortified Manor House and then Lord Cromwell developed it into this fortress in the 1440's. For a while it was a Tudor Palace before being seriously damaged during the English Civil War. For 200 years it was abandoned and ruined but then saved by Lord Curzon and restored to it's current state between 1911 and 1914.
The view from way up there over the parish church
Each storey had a main room with little rooms off in the corner turrets.
One of the fireplaces in one of the main rooms
And on the next floor the crests over the fireplace are coloured
One of the little side rooms was a dovecot
Standing on the roof is as high as we were allowed. There are steps up to the battlements but all roped off - the woodwork hand-rail did look a bit dodgy.
Looking out from the top in the other direction over RAF Conningsby. Quite strange standing on an old castle with fighter jets taxiing on the runways and then taking off with a huge roar of noise.
Then we drove on up to the holiday house in Lincoln.
I used my NT membership card to get in to Tattershall Castle and the £15 gift card I got when I joined was just right for paying for Son and DiL to get in...........handy.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Oh, my word, that's high. Too high for me, I suspect! It looks very interesting and a good way to spend the time before getting access to your house.
ReplyDeletexx
What a lovely place to spend time. Plenty of exercise too climbing all those steps.
ReplyDeleteLooks brilliant
ReplyDeleteThe juxtaposition of the ancient castle and the RAF base, with all the attendant technology, must have been a bit surreal.
ReplyDeletedid people live in the fortress? just wondering why there was a dovecot there too?
ReplyDeleteYes it was lived in for 200 years. No idea why one room is a dovecote
DeleteWhat an interesting looking castle. I love exploring those old places.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that I could be that high (up on the battlements). Lovely photos of the surrounding countryside.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I would have gone up onto the battlements - heights don't bother me as long as I'm standing on something solid
DeleteThank you for posting this - it was one of my favourite places to visit when I was a child and there was a lovely book shop in Coningsby in those days so I usually got a new book to readl
ReplyDeleteHow fun it must be to visit old castles like that. Thank you for sharing the pictures.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, Sue! It's a spectacular castle and what a view! The parish church looks like a little Lilliput ornament you can buy. That's a very large dovecote. Would they have used doves like pigeons to carry messages? In which case it's a very different post room! It looks like a lovely area to visit and is quite a way from me in Devon, but you never know :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing the pictures of inside the castle. When I went I had Rocky in a pushchair so I couldn't go in, and didn't want to pay the entrance fee.
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