ANN-ick

England

Northumberland

Alnwick

55.412601

-1.70351

11th century core w/later additions

Partially Extant

Keep destroyed circa 1854

Grade I

Grade I

No

Vol. I, p. 78, 1852.

LXV, 890, 952 plan, 1929. LXVI, 16 plan, 52 plan, 1929. LXV, 617 [Furniture], 1929.

Vol. III, 1820.

Yes

Yes

01665-510-777

01665-510-876

Individual / Family Trust

Private Home

Duke of Northumberland; Percy family here since 1309.

Yvo de Vescy, first Baron of Alnwick. Hugh Smithson, 18th Earl of Northumberland, later created 1st Duke of Northumberland, 18th century.

Alnwick is the second-largest inhabited castle in England, after Windsor Castle, and was originally constructed to defend England's border with Scotland. The earliest parts of the Castle were put up by Yvo de Vescy, the first Baron of Alnwick. The Percy family, later Earls and Dukes of Northumberland, have owned Alnwick since 1309. The enormous State Rooms were restored in the 1850s in the style of a 16th century Roman palace. In 1826, James Smithson, (died 1829) an English scientist who conducted research in chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, drew up his last will and testament, naming his nephew as beneficiary. Smithson stipulated that, should the nephew die without heirs (as he would in 1835), the estate should go “to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The Smithsonian is today the world's largest museum complex and research organization, composed of 19 museums, nine research centers, and the National Zoo. The motives behind Smithson’s bequest of $508,318 (worth approximately $35 million in inflation-adjusted 2010 values using the retail price index) to the people of the United States remain mysterious. Smithson never traveled to the United States and seems to have had no correspondence with anyone in the country. It has been suggested that his bequest was motivated by revenge against British society, which had denied Smithson, who was an illegitimate son of the 1st Duke of Northumberland, the right to use his father’s name. Others have suggested it reflected his interest in the Enlightenment ideals of democracy and universal education. Smithson was born in France in 1765 and named James Lewis Macie; he was the illegitimate son of Hugh Smithson, who later became the 1st Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth Keate Hungerford Macie, a widow. Smithson and his half brother, Henry Louis Dickinson, inherited a considerable fortune from their mother's family. Many houses around the world have been modeled on Alnwick; among the most noted is the Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer's Grey Towers Castle, built in 1893 in Glenside, Pennsylvania, for sugar magnate William Welsh Harrison. Though its exterior was based on Alnwick, the interiors were French -- ranging from Renaissance to Louis XV.

The Castle contains the finest collection of Italian paintings in the north of England and also houses one of the most important collections of Meissen in Britain. "Shield of Achilles," dated 1822-23, was sold at Sotheby’s on May 3, 1984 for £484,000. A pair of silver-gilt sideboard dishes, created to the design of Thomas Stothard in 1813-14, was also sold at Sotheby’s on this day, for £286,000. The Northumberland Bestiary, of circa 1250-60, was sold at Sotheby’s on November 29, 1990, to a U.S. buyer for £3,036,500. Raphael's "Madonna of the Pinks," circa 1507-8, on loan to The National Gallery, London since 1991, was to be sold to the Getty Museum for £35 million ($56 million). A campaign to raise the money to keep the painting in Britain was mounted throughout 2003 by The National Gallery; in February of 2004 the Gallery announced the Duke of Northumberland's estate had agreed to sell the painting to The National Gallery, London for £22 million. This is the amount payable after tax is deducted from the gross figure of £35 million. The price includes £11.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the largest grant ever given for a work of art. In January of 2003 the UK Government placed a temporary export ban on in the painting in an attempt to allow The National Gallery to raise the necessary funds needed to keep the painting in the UK. The Committee has said that every possible effort should be made to raise funds to retain the Raphael in the UK. The Government said that the painting is the “freshest and most delightful small image of the Madonna and the Christ child from the Italian Renaissance.”

Alnwick is frequently called the finest castle in Britain.

The formal Italian Gardens, created by the 4th Duke in the 19th century, are in the process of being restored and expanded by the current Duchess. The 12 acres of the Walled Garden have been redesigned by the Belgian landscape firm of Wirtz International. The first phase of the Alnwick Garden has been completed (2002), including the monumental Cascade, which tumbles up to 7,260 gallons of water per minute. The Cascade has 120 separate jets; these, together with the fountains, rills, and weirs, are computer-controlled and continually change pattern. The future plans call for an Ornamental Garden, a Rose Garden, a Poison Garden, Garden of Sense, a labyrinth, and a Serpent Garden. Plans have been announced (2002) build a giant Tree House on the site. Subject to approval, the structure would span 600 square meters, making it one of the largest tree houses in the world. The Alnwick Garden will ultimately be one of the largest and most important gardens of Britain.

"Becket" (1964). "Mary Queen of Scots" (1971). "Count Dracula" (1977 - TV series). "The Spaceman and King Arthur" (1979). "Ivanhoe" (1982 - TV movie). "Robin of Sherwood" (1984-86 TV series). "Blackadder 1" (TV series). "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991). "The Dwelling Place" (1994 - TV mini series). "The Glass Virgin" (1995 - TV mini series). “Elizabeth” (1998 - Princess Elizabeth is arrested here with her followers, and as the opening Burning of the Martyrs’ execution scene). "Monk Dawson" (1998). "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001 - as a setting for Hogwarts). "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002). "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004). "The Virgin Queen" (2005 - TV mini series). "So You Think You're Royal?" (2007 - TV documentary, episode 1.7, "Earl of Northumberland").