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Area Attractions Click on
Map.
The image top is of Bondgate Tower, or Percy
Tower, with the road through the middle of the
Tower leading to the Bondgate and Market
Square, centre of Alnwick. The Tower was built
as part of Alnwick Castle and Town Walls around
1450 for the Percy family of Alnwick
Castle.
There is a large Car Park down to the right
just before the Tower, ideal for exploring the
Town and for the south entrance to Alnwick
Castle and Gardens.
The Market Square is the Centre of Alnwick,
with the Market so large, it has to be set up
on some adjoining Streets. Markets are normally
held on Thursday and Saturday.
The Town Hall at the Market Square was built
in 1731 to replace an earlier Tolbooth, with
the Tolbooth used as a Court and Prison. The
Market Cross in the Square is hard to date.
The Town of Alnwick was founded in the 600s,
Alnwick Castle was built from 1096, and King
Edward I allowed Markets to be held at Alnwick
in the 1297, so the oldest parts of the Market
Cross could date from the late 1200s.
The Harry Hotspur Statue is on Pottergate, a
short walk north of the Market Square. Hotspur
was the most famous of the Percy Family,
leading English Armies into Battle in Scotland
and Europe in the late 1300s. The Pottergate
Tower is close to the Hotspur Statue.
The Bailiffgate Museum is
on Bailiffgate, a short walk north of the
Hotspur Statue, at the west entrance to Alnwick
Castle. This Museum gives information on
Alnwick through the centuries, from the first
settlers 7,500 BC, founding of Alnwick 600s,
the Normans 1000s, Alnwick Castle 1000s late,
battles with the Scots 1000s & 1100s,
Alnwick Abbey 1140s, the Black Death 1348,
Alnwick Town Walls built 1433, Factories, Mills
& Breweries 1800s, and Coal Mines
1900s.
Alnwick Castle is on the east side of
the Town, with two main entrances, one from the
West from Bailiffgate, and another from the
south where the Gardens are situated.
The Castle was built from the late 1000s,
with the Gardens from 1750 redesigned between
1997 and 2006. The Percy Family gained control
of the Castle in the 1250s, extending it into
one of the largest in England. The Castle is
best known for where two Harry Potter Films
were shot.
The Tenantry Column is at the east end of
Bondgate, in a small park, erected in 1816 with
a Percy Lion on top. The Column was built in
honour of the 2nd Duke of Northumberland,
Hugh Percy, who
had reduced the Rents of his Tenants during
hard times.
The Hardy Angling Museum and vast
Fishing Shop is on South Road, 1 mile south of
Alnwick centre. Map. William
Hardy set up a Gun and Fishing Tackle shop in
Alnwick in 1872, becoming one of the top names
in Fishing. One vintage Hardy Real sold at
Auction for £55,000.
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