Richmond Castle

Medieval castle in the pretty town of Richmond on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It looks wonderfully impressive from the outside and is definitely worth a visit to have an explore within its walls. Naturally a lot of the castle has been lost over the years but there is enough left to give you a sense of its previous grandeur. There are a few ‘rooms’ still standing and a pretty enclosed garden but the highlight for me is the tower/​keep. You can climb to the very top for wonderful views of Richmond and the surrounding countryside and it is probably worth the entrance fee for this alone. The keep was built in the 12^th century by the wonderfully named Duke Conan the Little and the castle is one of the oldest stone built castles in England, equalled in age only by Colchester and Durham Castles. There is an exhibition Centre and also a shop so you can pass an interesting hour or so within the castle’s walls. It is an English Heritage property and when I visited in 2012 it was £4.70 Adult, £4.20 Concession and £2.80 Child, English Heritage members Free. It doesn’t have its own car park though so it is necessary to find somewhere to park in Richmond and then walk to the castle.

An interesting castle; well worth a visit. There’s plenty of it to explore, some of it at quite dizzying heights — you get spectacular views of the town and the surrounding countryside from the top. There’s quite a lot of useful information around too, giving you details of the long history of the place. The day we went (a couple of years ago now) it was fairly wet, and this was a distinct disadvantage — we could have spent longer there had it been dry. But all in all, it is definitely worth the entrance fee, and we would certainly go again (whatever the weather!) when we’re next in the area.