Town in Northumberland, England
Alnwick
Say it "Annick". This Northumberland town gave the world Hogwarts' broomstick lessons, a poison garden and the rediscovered Keep Calm and Carry On poster.
Key information
- County
- Northumberland
- Nation
- England
- Population
- about 8,100, 2011 Census
- Known for
- Alnwick Castle, Alnwick Garden, Barter Books, Harry Potter filming
- Famous people
- Harry "Hotspur" Percy, Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, Mary and Stuart Manley
- Football clubs
- Alnwick Town
About Alnwick
Start by getting the name right
Alnwick is pronounced "Annick", with the L and W staying silent. Get it wrong and you'll be corrected, kindly, within seconds. The name comes from the River Aln, which loops past the town on its way to the North Sea. The town grew up on a bluff above the river, which is exactly the kind of spot a castle-builder likes.
The castle that taught a generation to fly
Alnwick Castle has belonged to the Percy family since 1309, when Henry de Percy bought it. It is still the home of the Dukes of Northumberland, and is often described as the second-largest inhabited castle in England after Windsor. Film crews love it. The first two Harry Potter films used it as Hogwarts, and the broomstick lessons were shot in its grounds. It also turned up in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in the first series of Blackadder and in Downton Abbey. The Percys were no ornamental family. Henry "Hotspur" Percy, a fiery medieval warrior who was killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, is the man Tottenham Hotspur are named after. Alnwick is also where Scottish kings met bad endings: Malcolm III was killed in a battle here in 1093, and William the Lion of Scotland was captured outside the town in 1174.
A garden with a section for killers
Alnwick Garden's first phase opened to the public in October 2001, the project of Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland. Its centrepiece is the Grand Cascade, a vast stepped water feature that puts on a show of fountains. Then there is the Poison Garden, which holds plants that can kill and is visited only with a guide. Some of the nastier specimens sit behind bars. The Treehouse, opened in 2005, is among the largest in the world, with rope bridges and a restaurant among the branches. The castle grounds themselves were reshaped in the 18th century by Lancelot "Capability" Brown, who also worked on the landscape at Hulne Park nearby.
The bookshop in the railway station
Barter Books occupies Alnwick's old Victorian railway station, and it is one of the best-loved second-hand bookshops in Britain. Mary and Stuart Manley opened it in 1991. Real fires burn in the old waiting room, and a model railway runs around the bookshelves. It also has a claim to fame in design history. In 2000, the Manleys found a rare printed poster at the bottom of a box of books. It read "Keep Calm and Carry On", and it was one of the Second World War morale-boosting posters that had never been put on public display. They framed it and hung it by the till. Customers kept asking for copies, and a slogan was reborn that now turns up on tea towels and mugs around the world.
Football with no pitch to speak of
Every Shrove Tuesday, Alnwick plays a game of football on the Pastures, the field below the castle. It is an old-style, unruly contest and has been played for centuries. Teams are drawn from the parishes of St Michael's and St Paul's, and goals are called "hales". Scoring one is known as "scoring the hales". The town also hosted Alnwick Fair, a week-long medieval-themed summer festival that ran from 1969 to 2007 and filled the streets with people in period costume. For ordinary football, Alnwick Town are the local side.
Lions, towers and a Farmers' Folly
The town is full of landmarks that hint at Percy power. The Lion Bridge carries the stone Percy lion across the Aln, and the Bondgate Tower, a 15th-century gatehouse, still stands as a gateway to the old town. The Percy Tenantry Column, built in 1816, was paid for by tenants thanking the 2nd Duke for cutting their rents. It is also known as the Farmers' Folly, and the nickname suggests that not everyone thought it was money well spent. In Hulne Park, the Duke's private grounds, stands Brizlee Tower, a Gothic folly built in 1781 and designed by Robert Adam. Nearby are the ruins of Hulne Priory, a Carmelite friary from the 13th century. For food, head up the coast for Craster kippers, or sample Northumbrian classics such as pan haggerty, a layered dish of potato, onion and cheese.