History
Ravensworth Castle is a ruined Grade II listed building, concealed in the trees of a privately owned woodland, in North Durham. The castle occupies the former site of an old fortress, which was allegedly named 'Ravens Helm', or in some records 'Ravens Weath', and two of its crumbling towers continue to exist to this day. The castle was passed between many different owners, however, its most recent possessors, the Liddell family, retained ownership for over 350 years; up until around 1910. After this, the castle was leased for a short period of time, for intended use as an all girl's school. Nonetheless, as is well known, the North East was radically affected by the growth of mining, particularly in the local vicinity of the castle, and by 1952, due to mining subsidence, a significant proportion of the building was demolished as it became substantially unstable. For those interested in old castles and ruins, the site still contains a number of towers, a gatehouse, sections of the curtain wall, cellars, a small network of tunnels and dungeons and some old interesting artefacts (all of which you can access with some level of careful imagination).
Our Version of Events
As we've spent more time in the North East we decided to pay a visit to Ravensworth Castle, to see what was left of the veiled, and largely forgotten, site. We managed to get onto the private estate easily, with no sign of the local residents, and set about exploring. From the outside the structure looks like most other crumbling and ruined castles, but, the site is much bigger than we had first anticipated and we spent hours climbing into the many hidden gems that the site has to offer. On the way out we were trailed, like many before us, by one of the local residents and were warned that it is private property and they regularly carry around shotguns - presumably for controlling pesky little problems on their flourishing and luxurious land.
Ravensworth Castle is a ruined Grade II listed building, concealed in the trees of a privately owned woodland, in North Durham. The castle occupies the former site of an old fortress, which was allegedly named 'Ravens Helm', or in some records 'Ravens Weath', and two of its crumbling towers continue to exist to this day. The castle was passed between many different owners, however, its most recent possessors, the Liddell family, retained ownership for over 350 years; up until around 1910. After this, the castle was leased for a short period of time, for intended use as an all girl's school. Nonetheless, as is well known, the North East was radically affected by the growth of mining, particularly in the local vicinity of the castle, and by 1952, due to mining subsidence, a significant proportion of the building was demolished as it became substantially unstable. For those interested in old castles and ruins, the site still contains a number of towers, a gatehouse, sections of the curtain wall, cellars, a small network of tunnels and dungeons and some old interesting artefacts (all of which you can access with some level of careful imagination).
Our Version of Events
As we've spent more time in the North East we decided to pay a visit to Ravensworth Castle, to see what was left of the veiled, and largely forgotten, site. We managed to get onto the private estate easily, with no sign of the local residents, and set about exploring. From the outside the structure looks like most other crumbling and ruined castles, but, the site is much bigger than we had first anticipated and we spent hours climbing into the many hidden gems that the site has to offer. On the way out we were trailed, like many before us, by one of the local residents and were warned that it is private property and they regularly carry around shotguns - presumably for controlling pesky little problems on their flourishing and luxurious land.
1: Clock Tower
2: Castle Wall and Tower from the Outside
3: Inside the Castle Wall
4: Old Chimney and Fire Place
5: Old Bathtub
6: View of Castle, Wall and Towers
7: Window from Inside Gatehouse Tower
8: Old Oven? Or Storage?
9: Inside View of Tower Without Floor
10: Deep Cellar
11: Inside Older Section of the Castle (Possibly part of the Old Fort)
12: Stairs inside Castle (Original Steps to the Left)
13: Rooftop View
14: Staircase Inside Upper Section of Castle
15: Growing Ivy in Main Castle Tower
16: Main Castle Tower
17: Storage Space Underneath the Castle
18: Dungeon Cell
19: Tunnels Underneath the Castle
20: More Tunnels Underneath the Castle

2: Castle Wall and Tower from the Outside

3: Inside the Castle Wall

4: Old Chimney and Fire Place

5: Old Bathtub

6: View of Castle, Wall and Towers

7: Window from Inside Gatehouse Tower

8: Old Oven? Or Storage?

9: Inside View of Tower Without Floor

10: Deep Cellar

11: Inside Older Section of the Castle (Possibly part of the Old Fort)

12: Stairs inside Castle (Original Steps to the Left)

13: Rooftop View

14: Staircase Inside Upper Section of Castle

15: Growing Ivy in Main Castle Tower

16: Main Castle Tower

17: Storage Space Underneath the Castle

18: Dungeon Cell

19: Tunnels Underneath the Castle

20: More Tunnels Underneath the Castle

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