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Alnwick

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Alnwick is a Market Town in northeast England in Northumberland, 36 miles south of Berwick Upon Tweed, 35 miles north of Newcastle.

Alnwick is popular for its Markets, Castle and Gardens, Bailiffgate Museum, Hardy Fishing Shop & Museum.

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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 from 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 was on South Road, 1 mile south of Alnwick centre, it is now in a smaller shop in the centre of Alnwick at 30 Bondgate.

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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