In fairness, some castles are "follies". They were actually built much later - there was a popular "revival" in the 1800s - but are made to look Medieval. Castell Coch, in Wales, is a "folly". There was a historic castle there but it was all rebuilt in the 1800s and just made to look historic. It's still a great castle to visit - and it tries to be authentic to Medieval building, but you are looking at a modern restoration and rebuild, not a historic castles that actually survived from Medieval.
@@Finderskeepers.You're wrong, castles were made of stone long before gunpowder was invented. Castles were besieged with siege machines that hurled large stone balls and boulders at stone castles to break through thier thick stone walls. Yes some were made of wood (forts), more permanent defences (castles) mainly stone.
@@klaxoncow Nop a 'folly' is a completely different thing and would never be seen as a 'real' Castle. And they are not always made to look medieval. A lot were built in the Victorian era. There are over 4,000 real castles in the UK alone. We have a couple of Follies near us, one known locally as 'The Pineapple House' is relatively famous. but would never be referred to as a castle. Are you mixing up two different things? '
Yes, "inhabited" means that there's actually someone living in the castle. And, no, there are still guided tours and gift shops for castles and "stately homes" where people are living there. Basically, the family lives in one section of it, but then opens the rest of it to the public. And maybe it's only open to the public in the Summer months. That absolutely does happen. People living in the castle, but castles are big places - so they live in just one section, but then make the rest of it open to the public. Indeed, the public visiting and paying for "guided tours" is the income they use to afford to keep living in a castle.
Personally I like Bamburgh castle. It's not only imposing but because it's right on the coast, you get that combo of castle and coastline which makes a nice scene.
As much as i love Bamburgh my favourite just down the coast is Dunstanburgh Castle, it is mostly ruins but it's location and sense of eeriness is very atmospheric ;)
(American tourist to tour guide at Windsor Castle) "Why did you build it right underneath Heathrow Airport's flight path?" Construction started in 1070AD - *833 years* before the Wright Brothers flew the first successful aircraft.
One of the things every English kid learns in History lessons is the structure of a Norman Motte and Bailey Castle (often having to make a model as homework). You can still see the original Motte structure at the heart of the large old castles.
Welcome to the land of the free. Where you are free to visit and wander around castles like this, free to wander around the countryside roaming across fields and forests, free to walk into a hospital without a credit card if you hurt yourself whilst on your walks, free to know that no matter where you wander the chances of being threatened by anything other than a raised voice is highly unlikely, and free to dismiss any thoughts of guns. Yes, the land of the free is not where most people think it is. The difference with Britain is we don't have to yell to the world we are free to convince the population we are. We know we are. By the way look at the castles of Wales, of Scotland and of Ireland, there are hundreds of them.
We're not free to think though or have a different opinion from the left wing narrative. Not free to pray in your head without the threat of being arrested , not free to be patriotic. Not free to want to protect your culture. Not free to be a white native. Even our children are not free from the threat of gang R. What you just said is pathetic and brainwashed. We're slaves in our own land.
@@sandrinecozic7214i live in wales, i have a 12c royal mint, a paliment house and castle 1.5 miles to the west of my home, a church from the doomsday book 500m to the west, and a roman bath remains 500meters further up thr same road. However france has to have some of the greatest castles ive wondered around. We in europe are blessed with great living history on our doorsteps.
The original narrator got the pronunciation of Alnwick wrong. It's more like "Annick". Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland, and his family DO still live in parts of the castle. There is no second "w" in Downton Abbey! (Pronounced like "Down-tun") Warwick (pronounced like "Warrick" - second "w" is silent) Castle's setting by the river is beautiful. Its gardens were landscaped by the very famous landscaper Capability Brown in around 1750. The Tower of London was the first stone castle in England, built by the Normans starting shortly after their successful invasion of 1066. It was built to intimidate the locals into submission. Windsor Castle was also built by the Normans, but was started a little later in the mid-1070's, and only started to be rebuilt in stone almost 100 years later.
Been to quite a few of those. Alnwick caste was used in the films as Hogwarts and some of the scenes were filmed in the grounds and the outer rooms. It was a little surreal walking round when you've seen the films. It's a bit of a walk to the castle from the main entrance but you see it from a distance and that was seen in the films as well. Alnwick is the second largest inhabited castle in England. It is the home of the Duke of Northumberland and his family. The living quarters are on the higher floors and only the first two floors are open to visitors. It was a fun day out but you can’t do that from London in a day. I was staying nearby then.
@jonhm8224 Ah, come on now. You can't just go taking the time to compose a well written, factual post that's on topic. That's simply not playing fair! 😂
As someone from Northumberland I don’t even think Alnwick Castle is the most dramatic one. Lindisfarne and Bamburgh are both as good if not better than Alnwick.
Yes, that was winding me up as well. He kept on repeating it too. Northumberland is surely the capital of castles in England too. So many were built to keep the scots at arms length.
I just had a couple of pints of beer in my local pub ... built in 1320! You can TELL it's very old coz the ceilings and doors are 1-2ft lower ... people were MUCH shorter in those days because of poor nutrition and disease!
Not really the whole story. I live in a house over 400 years old. It has small doors and originally had low ceilings. It was done because it made the place easier to heat, especially before window glass was a thing. Also timber was much more expensive in longer lengths- only the very wealthy had the money to buy the oak timbers needed for wider, taller rooms.
From my house you can see the church I got married in. Its tower was built in 1058. It leans rather alarmingly to one side because, according to legend, there is a Viking ship full of treasure buried beneath it…
True. I drive past Carlisle Castle often and it’s no biggie. Although it has huge historical significance in relation to when Queen Elizabeth 1 imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots there.
Yes but that number include many that are nothing more than just ruins or just outlines in the soil, no one would include them as actual castles to visit. There are several hundred castles in England that are still standing whole, there are 65 castles in Scotland that are still standing whole, Wales has over 100 castles that are standing whole or as ruins and about 500 that have returned to nature and are just mainly part ruins or just earth mounds and ditches. There are also over 40 castles in Northern Ireland but some of them are just ruins. He'd better not visit Germany because as the castle capital of the world with over 25,000 castles he'd need a lifetime to see them all. 😂
@@martinwebb1681Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country in Europe. There are more than 600 castles in Wales, more per square mile than anywhere in the world. Some have been lived in continuously for a thousand years.
@@dib000 ... Yes but only just over 100 of those still survive today, the other 500 were returned to nature and all that is left of them is a part of the ruins or just mounds and ditches remaining.
Me again, yes quite often Staely homes and a few castles are lived in. The family live in a wing of the building. Without tours people often can't afford the upkeep of such huge places.
Astonished Alnwick (pronounced Anick btw) made the list and yet Bamborough further up the coast didn't. Bamburgh was the capitol of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria with astonishing views and one of the richest histories in Britain. As a Northumbrian I would have put it at number one. Especially as its history (from before England existed) is amazingly old and tied up with the early history of Christianity at nearby Holy Island. Bamburugh is astonishing and probably the most romantic of all English castles ;-)
No it was the capital of Bernicia a part of Northumbria (northern part), York was the capital of Deira the southern part of formally as such The Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria.
@@jeremysmith54565 I suggest you research that again. St Aiden was instructed to found Lindisfarne by the King Oswald of Northumbria living next door at his capitol at Bamborough Castle. Aidan (died 651) was the founder and first bishop of the Lindisfarne island monastery in England. He is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria; not Bernicia. Whatever came later post Viking has nothing to do with that.
Some castles are still inhabited by the original families that have lived there for centuries. Meanwhile, they will still open the castle to the public. It helps them support finances that are necessary to withstand the cost of the upkeep. They just close off certain bits of the castle as their living quarters during those days. Not many of them are still in the hands of the original families, but there are a few that can still do this, but many families lost them due to financial reasons and cost of upkeep. Some look a little more “lived in” because during the periods around the 16th and 17th centuries, some families made them more comfy. By this time, the nobility became less inclined to be thrust into battle with their neighbours (neighbouring castles), so they could chill a little bit. From the 17th century until WWI, the castles still basically ran the local village and township economy as they owned most of the land (The Landed Gentry) but, this way of life started to die out during the First World War - the families that lived there, just weren’t able to maintain the burden of upkeep without the support of their servants and villagers. During the world wars, the military took many castles over and used them as various military buildings. This basically was the last straw for many of the families as they simply couldn’t recover and keep the castles any longer. It would seem like an end to a very caste system, but it was one that the local township, and many servants, depended on as a way of life. ❤ Downton Abbey is a fantastic depiction of this transition period. Written by Lord Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford. He was born into “The Landed Gentry” himself. Anyway, sorry to go on so much, but it was lovely watching your reaction video. It just reminded me of when I was a little kid, when we went on school field trips to see them for the first time. This was the history we learned about. I live in America now, but I get homesick. I’m so happy you like my country. Your country is so beautiful too. It’s all part of why culture is such a beautiful part of our existence, life is fun when we get to explore the world! 🏞️❤️
I live in Scotland. Truro minutes from Edinburgh Castle to the East, Stirling Castle to the West and 15 minutes to Blackness Castle and Linlithgow Palace. We are so lucky and do enjoy visiting them. I have had great pleasure in visiting them, with our American friends over many years
I moved from Australia to the UK for work, I am at a naval base on the south coast working as a weapon systems engineer for an MoD contractor. I walk around the base on my lunch break to get out the office and sometimes come across "graffiti" engraved in to bricks on some of the old heritage listed buildings. What blows my mind is some of the graffiti pre-dates Australia ever being settled. Parts of the base have been here since the late 1400's, and sailors over the years have left little messages here and there. It's absolutely surreal to experience, all on my break, like it's nothing unusual.
You should see Stone Henge. It was built in the Neolithic - a stone age monument. This chunk of land we call Britain has been continuously inhabited for a very, very long time. We're talking, pre-Australia, pre-America, pre-Christianity, pre-farming kinda 'long time'. It's kinda weird to me, as a Brit, that some people don't have that kind of cultural history - but then, Australians and Americans DO share our history, they just don't see it every day. For example; I've lived in a flat in a building older than America. That's not uncommon (Although a single wealthy family's townhouse would now be split into many small, but expensive, flats). Stay here for any length of time and you probably will too. 😂 Never forget, modern life is a very new invention. Perspective is everything.
Kenilworth Castle is a great one for graffiti, when we visited years ago the walls were engraved with years pre-dating the 1700s, did actually say joe blogs was here in 1700, but nearly.
@@blossomyoung9615 Perspective certainly is everything. I always get a chuckle from the younger generations who think life was always like it is today, whereas in reality we're living in a very different world these days. 400 years ago wasn't all that different from 500 years ago, or 600, or 700 et al. But nowadays a half century can see the world change almost entirely. Careers and trades used to be an intergenerational concept, whereas a lot of careers these days wont make it from father to son, some don't even survive a single generation! I'm not far from Stone Henge, about 30 minutes, and it's on my to-do list. Been busy visiting all the castles and forests down south. Mind blowing. To stand in those grounds knowing how many centuries it has been standing, and all the world events it has witnessed, is very humbling. A human life is just a blip on the timeline of life itself. Absolutely loving it here. Australia is great, I'll probably retire there, buy some land, cut an airfield and spend my twilight years dancing amongst the clouds. But until then I'm lapping up all the culture the UK has to offer. Plus the people here are unreal, lots of interesting characters, and most people are really friendly quick to smile and always have something nice to say. Stay well mate, you're a good soul.
@@JuneSivell Kenilworth looks amazing, though it's a fair old drive from where I'm living. I'll work my way up there eventually! Joe Bloggs reminds me of the baggy jeans from the 90's, had a couple of pairs as a teenager. Cost a fortune to buy in Australia though, something like AU$150 a pair back then which according to inflation calculators would be about GBP£180 now! I'm guessing they were cheap as chips over here, anything imported to Oz circa 80/90 was seen as a "luxury" item and wore a hefty markup by virtue. Have a good one mate and thanks for bringing back some memories!
I'm surprised (NOT shocked) that Skipton castle does not make this list. It is one the best preserved and complete in England and worth a visit at any time of the year. Skipton itself is a lovely little town - you would not be disappointed.
I’m a resident in the Royal Borough of Windsor and one the perks of living here is that we get a free entry pass to Windsor Castle, I have visited there many times and there is always something interesting to see!
Btw, I cannot comment on US English, but in British English the word "inhabited" means lived in. Many British castles remain the residence of the ancestral family, even though they may only occupy part of the place today. So, the non-private rooms are often open to the public.
@@indianastones6032 There is a lot of H dropping, but it still depends on the accent. The traditional "BBC accent" (Received Pronunciation) still uses it with most words, although nowadays not all BBC presenters are forced to adopt RP.
Inhabited must obviously mean a different thing where Tyler lives And he is nuts if he thinks the interior’s are the same as they were 1000’s of years ago 🙈🙈
Thanks for doing this reel , and from me a Brit it's good to see a American who seems to want to learn and educate others not only about castles but also the UK as a whole . Unfortunately many Americans visit the UK and do not really it seems research what they can and might see , so do not appreciate some of out history .
The Tower of London still has people living in it, including the famous yeoman wardens ,also known as the beefeaters, and their families as well as the Constable of the tower
You’ve hit the nail on the head: we can walk through history so quickly and conveniently and without thinking. It’s easy to fail to appreciate what is on the doorstep. I love a castle visit.
Alnwick Castle 9:01 is owned by the 12th Duke of Northumberland, Ralph Percy and his family, and yes the Duke and his family still live there. They open the Castle to the public to help pay for the running costs of keeping the Castle maintained.
They still have St Cloud State University courses running from the Castle too. I remember when they were filming the quidditch scenes because you could see the floodlights on from my flats living room window at the time, local school children were used for extras too.
Not to mention it was used as Hogwarts in many Harry Potter films and if you venture into the White Swan Hotel in town, you can see panelling etc. from Titanic’s sister ship Olympic.
People do live in these castles, just in a place where no visitors go to, obviously. You can go inside to visit all the wonderful furnishings and learn of the history of the castle. All the things are roped off so you can't go in and jump on the beds lol. Also Downton Abbey is pronounced Down-tun not Down-town, that is a song by Petula Clark :) I shall forever more call our castles 'Castley Castles' 😁
My son has a good view of Dover Castle from his kitchen window, I’m only a few miles away myself but I think my favourite is Walmer Castle as I love the gardens there.
@@devdebz1 my son and I joined English Heritage when he was about four years old and used to visit Deal Castle a lot when he was younger, he used to love to explore the “rounds” - I don’t know if they still let people borrow a torch as it’s quite dark down there! We used to live walking distance from Walmer Castle and would spend time in the gardens in good weather. I think we’re so lucky to have so much history on our doorstep! I can highly recommend Walmer Castle 👍
I am incredibly proud of my country. So rich in history, both good and bad. I am fascinated with our castles. To walk the very same hallways as previous monarchs and powerful historic figures, it never ceases to make me feel emotional.
If memory serves, Bodiam Castle was/is frequently used as a filming location. 🙂 And yes, inhabited castles and palaces still have the owners live there; private areas are being kept private, and there will be times when they're closed to the public to be used for functions by the owner(s). Opening them for visitors helps with taxes and general maintenance, and an organisation, the National Trust, staffs the guides for example. However, "doing" more than two castles a day, no matter how close, will only cause details to blur -- trust me, you won't remember what you've seen where two weeks later.
interesting little historical fact is that the castle moat has a plug and the type of moat at Bodiam is made to be exceptionally wide but relatively shallow with the original outline border of the moat was designed to keep the water in the mud after the top water was drained so that anyone approaching would be at least waist deep in mud, it was a type of moat design that is rarely remembered by people that do not look to deeply into medieval history but is one of my favorites.
We are so lucky to have all this history, I love visiting the castles and Forts and still find it fascinating to learn and see more.. joining organisations like National or English Heritage is good as you get discounted entries and it helps keep the places up and running
When my mum married my step-dad, we moved into the house he had shared with his father. It had been originally built in ~1390, and later added to, being finished in ~1470. My step-dad had had a previous girlfriend from America, at a time when he had just graduated from Law School. She phoned her mother and told her, "And the house he lives in was built in the 1400s!" Her mother - "Well, don't worry dear. He's a lawyer, pretty soon he'll be able to afford a new house." Talk about ignorance...
One of the highlights of Dover Castle is the secret war time tunnels that is built into the cliff itself, the tours give you a sense of what it was like during the war
Part of my flat is 14th century, I love it but, though British, I was amazed when I went to Italy that there are early and later medieval Fresco paintings on the walls of small local Churches...! At least most of the British things are tough, like castles, but these painting are incredible.
My absolute favourite castle to visit is Arundel Castle to the South of England. Every summer they put on various events. I always make sure to go when they put on the jousting tournament (which they do in full suits of armour!). They also have a medieval market where they sell hand-crafted pieces using medieval practices, like jewellery, woodwork, old style coins. They even have a blacksmith! Highly recommend!
It's a great castle isn't it. Joust is this week coming btw. Fun fact Arundel Castle joust is the only legitimate actual joust, the rest round the country are re-enactments. That's why the jousters have to wear real full on suits of armour, otherwise they'd get severely hurt!! It's a full on proper tournament. 😃
@@abigailporter2933 Oh wow, I didn't realise it was the only real joust! No wonder it's so spectacular! I won't be able to attend the event this year, sadly. Although it will likely continue to be something I attend each year after! I also really liked the fire-eater they had in 2022. He was so much fun!
@laiky4373 it's always a good tournament for sure. Glad you enjoyed the 2022 one and the fire eater. Yes, the fact it's a real tournament is pretty awesome, because of the Dukes premier position as Earl Marshall, it's why he can hold a legitimate tournament. It's certainly going to be hot weather this year, so I'm sure it'll draw in the crowds (I'm not a fan of really hot weather so will be hiding indoors whilst the tournament battles on!!) Lovely speaking to you. 🕊
The castles and stately homes are open to the public, have festivals and functions because these things pay for the upkeep of these buildings. These are listed buildings so they are protected by laws. This maintenance has to be in keeping with keeping the structure history intact that cost alot of money. This is how the family owners pay for it.
The thing that I think most Americans don’t get is that there are literally hundreds of castles in Great Britain, as most towns and city’s here are ancient and they grew up around a castle. Castles were built by a river ( only water source available ) the town grew up around the castle , so most places have at least one. I lived in a tiny town Welsh town ( Hay-On-Wye ) and the castle was next door ( my home was an Elizabeth shop ). The castles aren’t all huge and many are remains now rather than fully functioning building , some are lived in and not open to the public , but as I said there’s plenty to go round .
There a lot of great medieval castles in UK and many are in a quite good state and in Spain/Portugal too, i still have preference for french ones but many have been destroyed by the King central power, religion wars, revolution or used as stone quarry etc... Germany many ones but they have "gothic" style, in general prefer early medieval castles when it was all about war!!! English have fantastic websites with great drawings about UK castles recronstruction (often at different times in history), i wish France had same kind of website.
Not to mention mangling the names of places immediately after he hears the narrator say them!! 🤪 ED It got too painful at 17:00 - War-wick castle, he seems to have almost zero verbal memory. [ often signs of a fool ]
🇬🇧 🇬🇧 Warwick Castle is a FABULOUS day out , ever. It is NOT a ruin. If you stay in a medieval style lodge on site , then the Castle is free. Go on a day trip from London or Oxford.
There are more than 4,000 castles dotted around the UK. Many of the UK's castles began life as Bronze or Iron Age forts, built to provide defence against potential invaders. Forts tended to be built on high ground which offered good visibility of the surrounding landscape.
Just listen already!!!!! "Highlights of a visit include guided tour of the interior..." Tyler: "Are you allowed to go inside and explore?" Actually, you can usually choose whether to take a guided tour, or walk around at your own pace- but in the castles that have furnished interiors there is a member of staff or a volunteer stationed in each room to ensure you treat the place respectfully- and also anwer any of your questions about the castle in general, and what you can see in front of you. A lot of castles that are not ruined are still at least partially inhabited still, as well as being open to the Public. The public don't get to see the private rooms of the family, but the family do still use the state rooms on occasion when not open to the public. Hahahaha - Tyler looking at an interior shot of Alnwick and talking about how it was showing what it was like 1000 yers ago.... Probably more like 200..... Could you visit them all (English castles) in a week? Nope. There are over 4000 in England alone, never mind Wales and Scotland. That's about 571 per day.....
To be honest, he didn’t even have to listen, he just had to actually read the title of the video he selected to watch…Top 10 Castles to Visit in England.
I was visiting Arundel Castle with my parents in the early 1960's, I must have spent ages looking at a portrait of the 1st Duke of Bedford and my parents had wandered off, a man's voice from behind started to describe the portrait, I turned round to thank him and introduce myself to him, he thanked me and introduced himself, the then Duke of Bedford. That still occurs today if the family still reside in a Castle or House, who better than a family member.
And these are just in England! Wales and Scotland have beautiful castles as well. Look at Edinburgh Castle. Having moved to UK from Italy (where we have our fare share of castles)10 years ago I really enjoy wisiting them. I even subscribed to English Heritage wich is a trust that restore and manage historical buildings. If you do that in a lot of them you can enter for free.
Alnwick Castle is still owned and lived in by the Duke of Northumberland. It's open to the public and the Duke and his family live in a seperate private part of the castle.
@10:19 Tyler, ya see the statue of the knight on a horse? Notice that the horse has one leg off the ground. That indicates the knight later died of wounds received in battle. If the horse was reared back & both front legs off the ground, means died in battle. All four hoofs on the ground; died naturally. The Tower of London. I love the Tower of London. Way, way back in 1988, me and two buddies on leave from Germany flew to London to spend the week there & surprise some friends we made three months previously when the Queen's Colour Squadron of the Royal Air force Regiment performed at Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo, here in Halifax, of which the three of us were involved with. One such friend was the Chief Warrant Officer of the squadron. He asked us the next morning what we were going to do. I said visit the Tower of London. Doug picked up the phone & called his buddy who at the time, was one of the senior Warders at the Tower. Man, we walked right past the line of about 500 people, gave or names at the entrance, waited five minutes, and got the most awesome, unofficial, behind the scenes tour of the place. We had lunch in the Yeoman Warders' mess. What a fantastic day for a history freak like me. All those years ago, and I remember every minute of it.
Leg position on horse statues is a myth. Some conform...others do not...and there are enough that do not for it not to be a very good rule, same as i before e except after c where there are tons and tons of exceptions that break that 'rule'. Albert, Prince Consort (Holborn). One hoof up. Victoria’s husband was an intellectual, not a warrior, and never sustained a battle wound. ❌ Charles I (Charing Cross). One hoof up. Never wounded in battle. ❌ Edward VII (Waterloo Place). One hoof up. Died in old age. ❌ Earl Haig (Whitehall). One hoof up. The first world war commander evaded serious injury, despite presiding over the Western Front. Died of a heart attack in later life. ❌ George III (Pall Mall). One hoof up. He never fought a battle. ❌ William III (St James’s Square). Two hooves up. Did not die in battle, but after falling from his horse. ❌ That's 6 of about 15 in London alone that don't follow the rule i.e. 40%...elsewhere around the world it's pretty much the same story. Cool story, but false unfortunately.
You should check out the castles in Wales (there are more castles per square mile than any other country in the world) we used to be quite rebellious inWales😊
Anlwick Castle is LIVED in by the Duke of Northumberland, it is pronounced more like annick. During the time when England and scotland fought each other constantly, the Dukes were the first line of English defence and responsible for keeping the peace in the north of England. Although some castles are still privately owned they need tourism to raise fumds for the up keep.
I much prefer 'proper' fortress castles to ones that have become (or always were) 'stately homes'. Shout out for Goodrich Castle for a great example of one in England even if it may as well be in Wales which is where most of the best ones in the UK are (you could easily walk to Chepstow castle from England for a taster). For a setting I might pick Dunstanburgh in Northumberland though, makes for a tremendous walk.
I am Australian but connected with family still in England through Ancestry. My third cousin's father had sadly passed before I contacted but he was the family genealogy researcher and passed all the information on to her, so I was able to learn a lot. On one side of the family, our ancestors had a castle - Croft Castle in Croft, Herefordshire, owned by the Croft family since 1085, was sold, but repurchased by the family in the 1920's, then given to the National Trust. I really didn't expect that - but if I ever go to UK, I would love to drop in for afternoon tea.. hehe I think my direct line fell on hard times, as my great-grandmother was a lady's companion at Birdingbury Hall, which in itself is an impressive building. Retiring soon, so I hope to see these wonderful buildings for myself. 😊
How sad that you live in a modern country the other side of the world and have never seen the places which connect you to your ancestry. You must come here and explore.
@@valeriedavidson2785yes..funny thing is my cousin lives in Oxford but she has never been to Birdingbury (Warwickshire) either! She said if I come over, we will go together. 😊
I'm impressed you know who your third cousins are. I don't even know who my second cousins are, never mind third. I could walk past them in the street and not know.
I was between jobs and visiting Warwick Castle when I got a call from my business manager. We talked but after a while he asked what that noise was in the background and I said, "Oh, that's just two guys in armour, beating crap out of each other with swords."
years ago my family was involved in battles, uncle made armor, chainmail, swords all the stuff you see he made, he getting on now but he just finished helmet as realistic as possible for a castle display, sadly think that his last one. years ago my uncle , mum traveled around wales and England not so much England but few i remember that Warwick castle, mum uncle took parts in the fights on top of birds of prey display me my brother walked around dressed in costume with real bow arrows custom made by specialist with a bird prey. not done events for 15 years ish now but growing up was great fun but my uncle did not stop making weapons in his home for these events, had a eagle owl till only very recent. played a good role in lots events over the years,at night we all camp up in field huge camp fire everyone getting very drunk. lots fun times and great memory's, still got painted image at my mums with event i hold the kestrel, mum in battle, still got bow and arrow in loft, it a real weapon, and sure lots other stuff hidden away. funny thing only 4 miles from Warwick castle now, just over a mile from Kenilworth castle my home town and my driving test past Warwick castle
My 4th great grandfather was the gate keeper at Alnwick Castle and lived in the gate house. He was appointed after saving the owner, Sir Percy at the Battle of Bunker Hill. You'll know about that! p.s. pronunciation guide - Warwick Castle phonetically is worrik casul. Ta!
@peterellis1307 you could well be correct but George Kirk, my GG was at that battle and Percy rewarded him. George's medal is on display in the museum.
@martinsmith1573 I reckon your 4th GG was probably in a few battles over there, Martin. It looks like Percy was a capable commander and forward-thinking when it came to taking care of his men. I'm not surprised he looked after your GG in civilian life. He also it seems did not get on very well with the, General in charge of the British forces. The last time I was at Alnwick Castle, I missed out on the Fusileers Regitmental museum. Too much time spent looking at crockery and flying broomsticks, I'm afraid. When I'm next there, i must rectify that, and I'll look out for your GGs medal. Thanks to your post, I've had a pleasant hour or so reading about Hugh Percy and about the 5th Regiment of Foot. Cheers Martin 🍻
When my mother and I visited the Tower of London, on many occasions, we were disgusted to learn that a tourist of unknown nationality had actually removed one of the Tudor roses from the wall, As far as I can remember the walls were then protected by Perspex, our history being destroyed for the sake of a memento.
Buckingham Palace is NOT a castle. It began as a manor house, Buckingham House, and then was bought by George III in the 1700s for his wife Queen Charlotte and became Buckingham Palace.
😠 If you had paid attention to what Tyler actually said, you would not have posted such a critical comment. Note that the narrator said that the Tower of London was once a palace, and a castle in turn.
Best kind of reaction video: someone genuinely in awe of what they're seeing and actually enjoying the reaction themselves rather than just content creating.
Dude is a huge troll lol, he reacts to everything the same way and never interacts with his viewers. Its probably why his sub count is doing poorly. I unsubbed ages ago but his videos pop up every now and again.
I agree up to a point. Some reactors create a narrative, a journey into a subject and build a relationship with viewers as they take them on their journey. Tyler, rightly or wrongly, seems to take the approach that he's constantly appealing to new viewers and kind of presents a naiveté where everything is awesome and amazing. But that aside, on some videos it's more apparent he's genuinely enjoying the content he's reacting too rather than being in competition with his brother, clinically harvesting likes and views. To me, this was one of those reactions. 🤷🏼♂️
William The Conqueror had London Tower built just outside the walls of London city. At the time, it towered over the remaining Roman ruins and Anglo-Saxon city. Hence, The Tower.
My favourite Castle is Hever Castle in Kent. A small Castle, It was Anne Boleyn's childhood home, Anne was HenryVIII's second wife. There's a pretty lace cap on display that belonged to Anne when she was a little child. HenryVIII had visited the castle a few times.
As a Brit, I find it so interesting that it is the actual defensive castles that feel "authentic", rather than the "showing off how affluent I am" castles. In a very real sense they are more authentic, and I love that the fact come across for you in the video! If you fancy a follow up, there are amazing castles in Scotland, Wales, France, and Spain, so if you ever want to dive into a rabbit hole of castles, there's so much to enjoy!
As a Brit, I can't get enough of castles! We have English Heritage membership and really make the most of it, as it includes Welsh (CADW) and Scottish (Historic Environment Scotland) properties.
@@jeanrobinson705 Oh that's really handy to know - thank you! It's good to know that the orgs are all working together, England does tend to hog the limelight, and anything that encourages people to explore more widely is a definite plus!
Highclere Castle is a castle in name only. Originally a bishop's Palace, it was rebuilt as a house and altered many times. It now appears to be in a Jacobean style, but was actually made to look that way in Victorian times.
I used to see Norwich castle from my window at an old job I had. I got used to seeing it, it wasn't until I'd moved and not seen it for a while that I noticed how amazing it is to be able to see that every day.
I went to Dover and the castle last year for the first time on one of the few sunny warm days. I was knackerd by the end and fell asleep on the train home. It is huge. And Dover its self is a beautiful place to see. Had a great afternoon tea at a small tea shop with amazing scones.
@@nolajoy7759 I went on the cliffs and it was pretty cool, you can see France from them lol. I wanted to go into the castle but it took half the day to even walk around most of the cliffs lmao.
@@jlwkss Im a born and bred Dovorian, and when you can see France on a clear day you are really looking at Mainland Europe, Dover is the gateway too Europe
Hi 👋 it's not just castles in England how ever there are over 4000 of them some just rubble! 16000 church's of England, 97 Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals 3000 stately homes 26 million victoriana houses.... more importantly 39162 in 2024 PUBS 😊 sadly down about 300 from 2023 my previous house was built around 1811 to 1820 in Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire, in the deeds for the house was stated i couldn't dig a well, sell coal, or potatoes.... the well thing possible because there was a Spa bath's in the village and possible sold Spa water and possible was the owner of the land (just a guess) as for the not selling coal and potatoes, the house was next to a railway and possible had something to do with that??? Many strange bylaws in England. Loving your views on England very interesting to hear 👍
@tumbleweed860 When i was a lecturer in London, i commuted from Hampton Court Station into Waterloo. We often walked through the grounds of the palace along the River Thames to Kingston to do some shopping.
You can visit many castles . Including Windsor castle which was the late Queen’s favourite . Arundel castle built in the 11th century near me you can visit . The Duke of Norfolk lives there
Take it from me there are a lot of lived in castles. Revenues from tourists helps maintain these castles. Parts are partitioned off to tourists, you have to look on a set course, you can’t wander around willy nilly.
@@christinehoughton8591 you seem to be confused, the American is Tyler and I quoted him exactly and I simply highlighted that it's kind of weird of him to be surprised when the White house , which is inhabited by the US president has tours.
@@jedworthy why is it everyone seems to be replying to other comments on mine? I haven't mentioned pronunciation at all and I know the pronunciation because I am English and am quite used to place names not being pronounced phonetically.
Arundel Castle is home to the premier noble in the land. The Duke of Norfolk. Dover Castle has been a fortress for centuries. It's underground tunnels were used extensively for military purposes during World War 2.
Loved your reactions! I am English and was born in Kent so I have visited many of these castles even as a young boy. Yes, you can normally simply walk around the outsides and insides too. We Brits take our castles and stately houses pretty much for granted. Rochester Castle, Bodliam Castle, Leeds Castle, Dover Castle, Walmer Castle and of course the infamous Tower of London which still houses the Crown Jewels. You would not have wanted to be there. It was where Traitors were Hung, Drawn and Quartered! We have so much history for a small Island. Most of it was full of violence, invasions and uprisings! This is why all the castles. Leeds Castle was used by Henry 8th as a Love Nest!
i competed in an English longbow archery competition at Raby castle in north east England once, it was a lot of fun shooting my bow with the castle in the background, really transported me back in time.
You seemed surprised that the Tower of London was once a royal zoo. It's absolutely true- going all the way back to at least the reign of King John (who gained the throne in 1199, and started paying lion keepers in 1210), through to 1831 (after Ensign Seymour was bitten by a monkey, or so the story goes) the Tower, in addition to its normal purpose, housed the Royal Menagerie. The last of the animals were moved out of the Tower of London to Regent's Park in 1835 (the majority of the stock had been relocated to London Zoo in 1831). By the 18th century, the Menagerie was even open to the public, for the price of either 3 ha'pennies, or a cat/dog to be fed to the lions. Alnwick Castle was used for a number of the external shots of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, but it wasn't the only location used- some angles were shot at Bamburgh Castle, any footage in the quad was actually filmed in the cloisters at Durham Cathedral, the Slytherin common room was Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington... there were lots of locations used. Yes, there are still people living in Alnwick Castle- they opened it up to the public to help defray the maintenance costs on the place (this is relatively common among inhabited castles, as they're incredibly expensive to run. Other English castles in a similar position which are good visits include Skipton Castle in Yorkshire, and Raby Castle in County Durham). One really cool feature of Alnwick which the video didn't mention is the Gardens, including the Poison Garden (where every plant grown there can be deadly in and of itself, or used to produce toxic substances. Also cannabis, which has hilariously more fencing keeping you from picking it than the plant that makes you commit suicide if you come into contact with it...). As for castles they missed- I've mentioned Bamburgh, Skipton and Raby, but there's plenty more (even limiting yourself to just England, rather than the whole of Great Britain; Wales in particular has a ton of spectacular castles, but Scotland has its share as well). I'd highly recommend Kenilworth, Warkworth, Carisbrooke, Lindisfarne, Bolsover, Clitheroe, Lincoln, Helmsley, Scarborough, Nottingham, Tamworth, and St Michael's Mount when it comes to England.
People live in the Tower of London, not just the Beefeaters. It even has its own postcode C1. Apparently, it's very hard to get pizzas delivered there since they assume its a prank half the time so they often get it delivered to the Starbuck next door to pick up.
Technically, that wasn't how London Zoo got started, as that opened in 1828, but it did pick up a lot of animals as a result of the Royal Menagerie closing (there were nearly 300 animals in the Menagerie in 1831, up from 17 in 1805, as the last Keeper of the Menagerie was big on acquisitions)@@marioniopionio
One can even make a reservation to dine in the Parliament's dining room (it's a public space, after all, by British law) and I was planning to take my then-fiancee to that dinner on a trip to London, without warning... I even made the reservation. It never happened, but it was her surprise birthday date. I'm still hoping to be able to do it later on.
European in general have some fantastic castles but the UK has some of the most accessible and maintained. Edinburgh Castle is superb. Yes a lot are still occupied.
I live very close to Arundel Castle it is stunning to visit and you can see weapons armour and the interior or the time but also from a distance as shown on the clip it’s just beautiful. It also has its outer walls that originally encompassed the castle and its grounds now encompasses a large part the town of Arundel. We may not have the sunshine and beaches the the USA have but being so close to our history in such majesty is awesome I mean some of our castles are over a 1000 years old they’ve been around longer than America’s existed and I love that we have such a long history and buildings that show it.
It's true. A couple of years ago, I was in London for a string of concerts I'd booked tickets for. And during the day, I decided to take advantage of being down south and to take the train for little day trips to various towns and cities down south that would normally be too far to travel to from home. It was so easy to hop on the train and within an hour, your in a new place with lots of interesting castles, unique architecture and museum. Rochester was one of them and I did go around the castle. It was a nice little town and a cool Castle, though, mostly ruins. But a nice little day trip from London. And then straight back to London to see the last of the concerts. Overall an awesome week away. (edit) Should have waited til the end to post this comment. I also on that same week away visited the Tower of London on the day I decided to stay in London instead of heading out. It is one of the best Castles i've ever visited. I also on that trip visited Colchester Castle. All 3 in less than a week. Anyone planning on coming to Britain, If you can stay longer than a few days, I'd highly recommend staying in London but heading out to different cities and towns on the train. You can get a lot of stuff like this done in nice easy day trips from London.
Tyler: Have you done England's great houses? Castle Howard, Chatsworth, etc. The entry fee can be rather expensive, but joining Historic Houses or a similar organisation can give access to many for an annual membership. Some, like Castle Howard, do their own membership for as many visits to this house as you desire in a 12-month period.
Now look at Welsh castles. Wales has the most castles per square mile than any other country. Check out Conwy (where I proposed to my wife) and Caernarfon castle. There both amazing.
A castely castle 😂 priceless. You are right, we do take these castles for granted. In the county of Kent alone there are 30 castles - that’s one for every 30 square miles - all an hour at most by train from London. As a London resident I’m certainly going to visit more English castles now!!! Sometimes it takes someone from overseas to highlight just how special things are here as we’re so busy running our own country down which is a shame.
On one family holiday in Northumberland we visited 9 different castles in 6 days. And by the way the square towers you refer to as the castle is actually called the keep. A castle is made up of the keep, buildings and outer walls.
In Europe we have castles in every country, many are ruins but also many are still in very good shape. In Finland, Sweden Denmark, Italy, Spain , even Romania, Britannia, Wales, Ireland...
ronnyrudeboy: you have forgotten the country with by far most castles in the world: Germany (with over 25000 castles). And if one takes the Holy Roman Empire (with Germany as base but it included masses of now other countries which are now Austria, Switzerland, partly Northern Italy, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, part of France, Belgium, Netherlands, parts of Poland, Baltics, Bohemia/Czech - many communities in Eastern Europe (technically also Spain etc. - which was just a Habsburg Branch, Portugal, Rome, Sicily and so on) then those Germans created something about 100000-200000 castles, maybe much more. Among them are also the biggest castle in the world (Marlbork castle, created by the German Teutonic Order - now part of Poland) or the longest (Burghausen/Germany), storywise also interesting is the Frankenstein castle in Hessen/Germany (where a real dynasty of Frankensteins lived for centuries, also an Alchemist who really seek for the Elixir of Life with now dubious methods - all that inspired Mary Shelby, who traveled the region for her famous 'Frankenstein' novel ). One of the reasons why there are many castles especially in Germany itself is that the Holy Roman Empire was a very fragmented complex Empire with masses of little states (also the reason why Germany has most cities in Europe) and its geographical position right in the center of Europe (its a kind of interface position - from a greater perspective also together with other Central Europe regions (which are also the birthplace of the all Indo-European subcultures of the more Western branches: Proto-Germanic from Northern Germany, Proto-Celtic from Southern Germany/Austria (Hallstatt), Proto-Slavic from a region between the neighbor and farer East and Proto-Italic in Hungary (before they moved over to Italy). Also all Rainessances happened in exactly this region (from the Germanic Frankish Empire (France is just the remain of the Western part of that) where in Aachen/Germany happened under Karl dem Grossen (Karolus Magnus, wrongly named 'Charlemagne' - no one with that name existed) the Carolingian Rainessances happend, later the Northern Rainessances, the one in Northern Italy and Rome (all of that was directly or indirectly part of the Holy Roman Empire) and so on. The oldest castles are btw. in Germany/Austria and UK. One has to keep furthermore in mind that most castles were already destroyed at medieval times for a couple of more profane smaller conflicts (sometimes just neighboring nobilities - or substitutions, moving toanother spot) not during the world wars (even if the 30 year war really destroyed a lot). Annd castles are not castles, they changed over time. Not every castles which looks like a 'defensive' castle is one, it was already often back then just a superficial defense and the focus more on representation while others have a very complex and real defense construction. Also castles changed over time due to the evolution of weapons: when canons became more and more a thing triangle like fortress structures became more and more a thing. The 'Spandau Citadel' in Berlin is a great example of a more fortress like construction but also castles like Hohentwiel which is a massive multi level castle site (starting from 915 or earlier and changing over time - its more like castles within castles (Matroschka puppets like) bt represents a good combination between older castles structures and later changed/added constructions with more fortress focus) . Now, in detail castles/palaces etc. are often much more different and represent very different environments/epoches and owner focus than it appears on a superficial view, one can find overall in Europe good representations of the historical contexts of that time. It is not just 'ok, old castles are just old castles'. Already just side aspects of castles like 'prisons' changed over time (it was NOT usual that castles had 'dungeon' like prisons. On the contrary, many were quite comfy, nice and overground - just some rooms or in a tower but not 'bad'. Such constructions came later) ... the reason for triangle like extensions for fortresses or fortress castles was btw. that the canon balls could hit less hard with such shapes. and serious constructed ones also had on one hand an earth-wall before that and 'lower' buildings so the entire construction is less vulnerable and more difficult to aim at. There are also different regional differenes between Europe - like some preferred more keeps/towers with certain functions, others not. already a tower in itself is quite different for different purposes and changed over time. Some castles were constructed with another closeby castle in mind - sometimes also some parts (like doorways) were just created to give a good view on the other castle - others with more practical reasons in mind. one also had already at medieval time competion between neighbor dynasties/nobilities etc. (or as said: trying to destruct the other castles. here also laws for knights, fehde etc. plaid a role)
I'm English and I can confurm that we had a lot more castels then people think, but most are basicly distroyed because farmers took the stones to make there small walls around there plot, so if you see a half distroyed castle,it may not just be war and age, but sneeky farmers stealing the stones
Bamburgh cast is much more impressive than most of the earlier ones shown here. It is on the North East coast, one of the Northumbrian castles protecting the coastline from attack.
You can walk all around a bronze age hill fort a few miles from where I live for free. Most of these hill forts are easy to spot on the landscape and are all over the place here in England. When you think that they date back to around 2000 BC, that's around 4000 years ago and they are still there, its pretty amazing !
Every single county has a castle or castles. Some are at town centres, others are in the countryside. I have met people who take a short cut through castle grounds to get to work every day. They're usually too busy looking at their phones to bother about looking at castles. For tourists, a castle is a good place for a picnic, but some have their own cafés (but I should point out - no Big Macs - sorry to disappoint).
@@paulwild3676 Bristol was the first city (other than London) to become a county in its own right - in 1373 when Edward III separated us from Gloucestershire and Somerset. We were briefly incorporated into “Avon”. An abomination that was soon abolished. We are a county - we have Lord Lieutenant and all that! We used to have a castle, but now it’s just some rocks in a park
@@morganetches3749 I never knew that. I think something similar happened to Newcastle, when it was removed from Northumberland. I don’t think London was a county as early as Bristol. London was in Middlesex, Surrey, Kent and Essex quite recently. Well in the last 150 years at least.
There are still ppl living in some of the castles today but the families allow tours to boost incomes to run the castles and there upkeep as all castles are grade1 listed
![Twenty One Pilots - The Line (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XCz7WUotXs8/mqdefault.jpg)
The reason the US doesn't have castles is because everyone stopped building them before you guys were even a country
In fairness, some castles are "follies". They were actually built much later - there was a popular "revival" in the 1800s - but are made to look Medieval. Castell Coch, in Wales, is a "folly". There was a historic castle there but it was all rebuilt in the 1800s and just made to look historic. It's still a great castle to visit - and it tries to be authentic to Medieval building, but you are looking at a modern restoration and rebuild, not a historic castles that actually survived from Medieval.
Before gunpowder, "castles" were made of wood. Once the guns arrived the castles followed.
Castles are called forts in the US.
@@Finderskeepers.You're wrong, castles were made of stone long before gunpowder was invented. Castles were besieged with siege machines that hurled large stone balls and boulders at stone castles to break through thier thick stone walls. Yes some were made of wood (forts), more permanent defences (castles) mainly stone.
@@klaxoncow Nop a 'folly' is a completely different thing and would never be seen as a 'real' Castle. And they are not always made to look medieval. A lot were built in the Victorian era. There are over 4,000 real castles in the UK alone.
We have a couple of Follies near us, one known locally as 'The Pineapple House' is relatively famous. but would never be referred to as a castle.
Are you mixing up two different things?
'
Yes, "inhabited" means that there's actually someone living in the castle.
And, no, there are still guided tours and gift shops for castles and "stately homes" where people are living there. Basically, the family lives in one section of it, but then opens the rest of it to the public. And maybe it's only open to the public in the Summer months.
That absolutely does happen. People living in the castle, but castles are big places - so they live in just one section, but then make the rest of it open to the public. Indeed, the public visiting and paying for "guided tours" is the income they use to afford to keep living in a castle.
Personally I like Bamburgh castle. It's not only imposing but because it's right on the coast, you get that combo of castle and coastline which makes a nice scene.
Definitely one of the best I've visited.
And its got its very own wyrm.
As much as i love Bamburgh my favourite just down the coast is Dunstanburgh Castle, it is mostly ruins but it's location and sense of eeriness is very atmospheric ;)
Barnburgh castle is gorgeous Such history Location is beautiful great view of the coast 🥰
Agreed. As a "Vikings" fan ("I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred"), I just assumed it would be in the list.
(American tourist to tour guide at Windsor Castle)
"Why did you build it right underneath Heathrow Airport's flight path?"
Construction started in 1070AD - *833 years* before the Wright Brothers flew the first successful aircraft.
Just tell them that it's because The Queen Mother was an avid plane spotter. 😉
hahahahahahahahahaha
🤣🤣🤣
Not very clever are they
How dumb are they? More so how long do they think the airport was around? Jezzz it's not like we go hmmm it's 2024 let's build a castle.....
One of the things every English kid learns in History lessons is the structure of a Norman Motte and Bailey Castle (often having to make a model as homework). You can still see the original Motte structure at the heart of the large old castles.
The best Motte & bailey for actually visiting is, I think Launceston Castle.
Welcome to the land of the free. Where you are free to visit and wander around castles like this, free to wander around the countryside roaming across fields and forests, free to walk into a hospital without a credit card if you hurt yourself whilst on your walks, free to know that no matter where you wander the chances of being threatened by anything other than a raised voice is highly unlikely, and free to dismiss any thoughts of guns. Yes, the land of the free is not where most people think it is. The difference with Britain is we don't have to yell to the world we are free to convince the population we are. We know we are. By the way look at the castles of Wales, of Scotland and of Ireland, there are hundreds of them.
It is not free most require an English heritage paid membership
Free to smoke a joint?
Oh yeah !! Scotland has been in war against England for centuries 🎉
We're not free to think though or have a different opinion from the left wing narrative. Not free to pray in your head without the threat of being arrested , not free to be patriotic. Not free to want to protect your culture. Not free to be a white native. Even our children are not free from the threat of gang R. What you just said is pathetic and brainwashed. We're slaves in our own land.
@@thebolsta bun a zoot wherever you want pal
Hey Tyler I live in Wales we have more than 600 castles here, more per square mile than anywhere else in the world.
Built by the English to keep control over the pesky Welsh people of Wales.
Dans toute l Europe il y a des châteaux
@@sandrinecozic7214yes. But none have more per square mile than Wales.
@@sandrinecozic7214i live in wales, i have a 12c royal mint, a paliment house and castle 1.5 miles to the west of my home, a church from the doomsday book 500m to the west, and a roman bath remains 500meters further up thr same road. However france has to have some of the greatest castles ive wondered around.
We in europe are blessed with great living history on our doorsteps.
For some reason I prefer, say, Conwy Castle to Caernarfon Castle as there's less of Conwy left, so more imagination is needed!
The original narrator got the pronunciation of Alnwick wrong. It's more like "Annick". Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland, and his family DO still live in parts of the castle.
There is no second "w" in Downton Abbey! (Pronounced like "Down-tun")
Warwick (pronounced like "Warrick" - second "w" is silent) Castle's setting by the river is beautiful. Its gardens were landscaped by the very famous landscaper Capability Brown in around 1750.
The Tower of London was the first stone castle in England, built by the Normans starting shortly after their successful invasion of 1066. It was built to intimidate the locals into submission.
Windsor Castle was also built by the Normans, but was started a little later in the mid-1070's, and only started to be rebuilt in stone almost 100 years later.
This is proof , if any were needed, that Tyler NEVER looks at the comments, as this has been mentioned many times !
Been to quite a few of those. Alnwick caste was used in the films as Hogwarts and some of the scenes were filmed in the grounds and the outer rooms. It was a little surreal walking round when you've seen the films. It's a bit of a walk to the castle from the main entrance but you see it from a distance and that was seen in the films as well.
Alnwick is the second largest inhabited castle in England. It is the home of the Duke of Northumberland and his family. The living quarters are on the higher floors and only the first two floors are open to visitors. It was a fun day out but you can’t do that from London in a day. I was staying nearby then.
@jonhm8224 Ah, come on now.
You can't just go taking the time to compose a well written, factual post that's on topic.
That's simply not playing fair! 😂
As someone from Northumberland I don’t even think Alnwick Castle is the most dramatic one. Lindisfarne and Bamburgh are both as good if not better than Alnwick.
Yes, that was winding me up as well. He kept on repeating it too. Northumberland is surely the capital of castles in England too. So many were built to keep the scots at arms length.
I just had a couple of pints of beer in my local pub ... built in 1320!
You can TELL it's very old coz the ceilings and doors are 1-2ft lower ... people were MUCH shorter in those days because of poor nutrition and disease!
Not really the whole story. I live in a house over 400 years old. It has small doors and originally had low ceilings. It was done because it made the place easier to heat, especially before window glass was a thing. Also timber was much more expensive in longer lengths- only the very wealthy had the money to buy the oak timbers needed for wider, taller rooms.
From my house you can see the church I got married in. Its tower was built in 1058. It leans rather alarmingly to one side because, according to legend, there is a Viking ship full of treasure buried beneath it…
I think more Americans could do with understanding that the rest of the world significantly predates 1776...
Everything is old in the UK, you can walk past a house that is a couple of hundred years old and wouldn't look twice.
True. I drive past Carlisle Castle often and it’s no biggie. Although it has huge historical significance in relation to when Queen Elizabeth 1 imprisoned Mary Queen of Scots there.
It's pronounced "Annick" !!!
@@JennieShaw-b2i And not Rod-chester
I live in one.
You can walk down entire streets of houses hundreds of years old.
Best of luck visiting all the UK castles in a couple of days,there are over 4000
Yes but that number include many that are nothing more than just ruins or just outlines in the soil, no one would include them as actual castles to visit. There are several hundred castles in England that are still standing whole, there are 65 castles in Scotland that are still standing whole, Wales has over 100 castles that are standing whole or as ruins and about 500 that have returned to nature and are just mainly part ruins or just earth mounds and ditches. There are also over 40 castles in Northern Ireland but some of them are just ruins. He'd better not visit Germany because as the castle capital of the world with over 25,000 castles he'd need a lifetime to see them all. 😂
@@martinwebb1681 It sounds like Germany has always been keen on wars then.
@@martinwebb1681Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country in Europe. There are more than 600 castles in Wales, more per square mile than anywhere in the world. Some have been lived in continuously for a thousand years.
@@dib000 ... Yes but only just over 100 of those still survive today, the other 500 were returned to nature and all that is left of them is a part of the ruins or just mounds and ditches remaining.
@@neilwilliams4684 nahh, its france
It's great to see Americans appreciate our beautiful country and I wouldn't live anywhere else it's the best ever place we are blessed 😊👍♥️
Just visited Alnwick Castle yesterday with my grandchildren. The gardens a lovely. An excellent family day out. 😊👍🇬🇧
Me again, yes quite often Staely homes and a few castles are lived in. The family live in a wing of the building. Without tours people often can't afford the upkeep of such huge places.
Astonished Alnwick (pronounced Anick btw) made the list and yet Bamborough further up the coast didn't. Bamburgh was the capitol of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria with astonishing views and one of the richest histories in Britain. As a Northumbrian I would have put it at number one. Especially as its history (from before England existed) is amazingly old and tied up with the early history of Christianity at nearby Holy Island. Bamburugh is astonishing and probably the most romantic of all English castles ;-)
Bamburgh is stunning. The list is bizarre, highclere isn't a castle 😂.
No it was the capital of Bernicia a part of Northumbria (northern part), York was the capital of Deira the southern part of formally as such The Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria.
How about War wick or Down Town?😂
@@jeremysmith54565 I suggest you research that again. St Aiden was instructed to found Lindisfarne by the King Oswald of Northumbria living next door at his capitol at Bamborough Castle. Aidan (died 651) was the founder and first bishop of the Lindisfarne island monastery in England. He is credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria; not Bernicia. Whatever came later post Viking has nothing to do with that.
@@vicibox It (Deira) merged with Bernicia in 654, so no its you who needs to research that again evidently.
Some castles are still inhabited by the original families that have lived there for centuries.
Meanwhile, they will still open the castle to the public. It helps them support finances that are necessary to withstand the cost of the upkeep. They just close off certain bits of the castle as their living quarters during those days. Not many of them are still in the hands of the original families, but there are a few that can still do this, but many families lost them due to financial reasons and cost of upkeep.
Some look a little more “lived in” because during the periods around the 16th and 17th centuries, some families made them more comfy. By this time, the nobility became less inclined to be thrust into battle with their neighbours (neighbouring castles), so they could chill a little bit.
From the 17th century until WWI, the castles still basically ran the local village and township economy as they owned most of the land (The Landed Gentry) but, this way of life started to die out during the First World War - the families that lived there, just weren’t able to maintain the burden of upkeep without the support of their servants and villagers. During the world wars, the military took many castles over and used them as various military buildings.
This basically was the last straw for many of the families as they simply couldn’t recover and keep the castles any longer.
It would seem like an end to a very caste system, but it was one that the local township, and many servants, depended on as a way of life. ❤
Downton Abbey is a fantastic depiction of this transition period. Written by Lord Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford.
He was born into “The Landed Gentry” himself.
Anyway, sorry to go on so much, but it was lovely watching your reaction video. It just reminded me of when I was a little kid, when we went on school field trips to see them for the first time. This was the history we learned about.
I live in America now, but I get homesick. I’m so happy you like my country. Your country is so beautiful too. It’s all part of why culture is such a beautiful part of our existence, life is fun when we get to explore the world! 🏞️❤️
I live on the English/ Welsh border. There are about 20 castles within 30 miles of me
Sounds like Monmouthshire
Me too. I live within 5 minutes walk from Chester Castle and often go Castle viewing [ including some of the forgotten ones like Ewlow and Hawarden]
Yes, they were built to keep the uppety welsh down ;)
@@Great_Cthulhu and the castles in england were built to keep down the uppity english.
I live in Scotland. Truro minutes from Edinburgh Castle to the East, Stirling Castle to the West and 15 minutes to Blackness Castle and Linlithgow Palace. We are so lucky and do enjoy visiting them.
I have had great pleasure in visiting them, with our American friends over many years
I moved from Australia to the UK for work, I am at a naval base on the south coast working as a weapon systems engineer for an MoD contractor. I walk around the base on my lunch break to get out the office and sometimes come across "graffiti" engraved in to bricks on some of the old heritage listed buildings. What blows my mind is some of the graffiti pre-dates Australia ever being settled. Parts of the base have been here since the late 1400's, and sailors over the years have left little messages here and there. It's absolutely surreal to experience, all on my break, like it's nothing unusual.
You should see Stone Henge. It was built in the Neolithic - a stone age monument.
This chunk of land we call Britain has been continuously inhabited for a very, very long time.
We're talking, pre-Australia, pre-America, pre-Christianity, pre-farming kinda 'long time'.
It's kinda weird to me, as a Brit, that some people don't have that kind of cultural history - but then, Australians and Americans DO share our history, they just don't see it every day.
For example; I've lived in a flat in a building older than America. That's not uncommon (Although a single wealthy family's townhouse would now be split into many small, but expensive, flats).
Stay here for any length of time and you probably will too. 😂
Never forget, modern life is a very new invention.
Perspective is everything.
Kenilworth Castle is a great one for graffiti, when we visited years ago the walls were engraved with years pre-dating the 1700s, did actually say joe blogs was here in 1700, but nearly.
@@blossomyoung9615 Perspective certainly is everything. I always get a chuckle from the younger generations who think life was always like it is today, whereas in reality we're living in a very different world these days. 400 years ago wasn't all that different from 500 years ago, or 600, or 700 et al. But nowadays a half century can see the world change almost entirely. Careers and trades used to be an intergenerational concept, whereas a lot of careers these days wont make it from father to son, some don't even survive a single generation!
I'm not far from Stone Henge, about 30 minutes, and it's on my to-do list. Been busy visiting all the castles and forests down south. Mind blowing. To stand in those grounds knowing how many centuries it has been standing, and all the world events it has witnessed, is very humbling. A human life is just a blip on the timeline of life itself. Absolutely loving it here. Australia is great, I'll probably retire there, buy some land, cut an airfield and spend my twilight years dancing amongst the clouds. But until then I'm lapping up all the culture the UK has to offer. Plus the people here are unreal, lots of interesting characters, and most people are really friendly quick to smile and always have something nice to say.
Stay well mate, you're a good soul.
@@JuneSivell Kenilworth looks amazing, though it's a fair old drive from where I'm living. I'll work my way up there eventually! Joe Bloggs reminds me of the baggy jeans from the 90's, had a couple of pairs as a teenager. Cost a fortune to buy in Australia though, something like AU$150 a pair back then which according to inflation calculators would be about GBP£180 now! I'm guessing they were cheap as chips over here, anything imported to Oz circa 80/90 was seen as a "luxury" item and wore a hefty markup by virtue.
Have a good one mate and thanks for bringing back some memories!
I'm surprised (NOT shocked) that Skipton castle does not make this list. It is one the best preserved and complete in England and worth a visit at any time of the year. Skipton itself is a lovely little town - you would not be disappointed.
I am not from the UK but am astonished to hear that Tyler (or anyone) has never heard of the Tower of London.
history teacher must have had flue that day😂
@@allanallen1835 I've seen videos of him early on , he knows,
He’s got to be joking. I live in the US and we learned about that in school
@@thehapagirl92 he knows all about he UK he's reacted to videos in the past
@@DeanMoxley87yes he's done so many videos in the past but pretends to be surprised in every new one.
I’m a resident in the Royal Borough of Windsor and one the perks of living here is that we get a free entry pass to Windsor Castle, I have visited there many times and there is always something interesting to see!
Btw, I cannot comment on US English, but in British English the word "inhabited" means lived in. Many British castles remain the residence of the ancestral family, even though they may only occupy part of the place today. So, the non-private rooms are often open to the public.
Inhabited has the same definition in the US.
The main difference is that we enunciate the h, while London's East Enders say "In-abited".
Half the country doesnt pronounce the letter H
Oh bless you, you would be allowed into most castles you see.
@@indianastones6032 There is a lot of H dropping, but it still depends on the accent. The traditional "BBC accent" (Received Pronunciation) still uses it with most words, although nowadays not all BBC presenters are forced to adopt RP.
Inhabited must obviously mean a different thing where Tyler lives
And he is nuts if he thinks the interior’s are the same as they were 1000’s of years ago 🙈🙈
Thanks for doing this reel , and from me a Brit it's good to see a American who seems to want to learn and educate others not only about castles but also the UK as a whole . Unfortunately many Americans visit the UK and do not really it seems research what they can and might see , so do not appreciate some of out history .
The Tower of London still has people living in it, including the famous yeoman wardens ,also known as the beefeaters, and their families as well as the Constable of the tower
My nans niece used to live there when her husband was a beefeater in the 90s
My favourite castle is in Wales Caernarfon castle, I also like Beaumaris on Anglesey.
Totaly agree. ❤
I like Carew
Two beautiful castles.
You’ve hit the nail on the head: we can walk through history so quickly and conveniently and without thinking. It’s easy to fail to appreciate what is on the doorstep. I love a castle visit.
Alnwick Castle 9:01 is owned by the 12th Duke of Northumberland, Ralph Percy and his family, and yes the Duke and his family still live there.
They open the Castle to the public to help pay for the running costs of keeping the Castle maintained.
yes as its pronounced An - ick
They also have a Deadly Garden where ALL the Plants are TOXIC either to touch or eat.
They still have St Cloud State University courses running from the Castle too. I remember when they were filming the quidditch scenes because you could see the floodlights on from my flats living room window at the time, local school children were used for extras too.
Not to mention it was used as Hogwarts in many Harry Potter films and if you venture into the White Swan Hotel in town, you can see panelling etc. from Titanic’s sister ship Olympic.
What a shame you cannot understand the meaning of uninhabited.
I live about 4 miles away from Nottingham castle and have even worked there. There are over 4,000 castles in the UK.
My home town. Nottingham castle was on my doorstep ❤
As a Hucknall born lad, I approve of this post!
People do live in these castles, just in a place where no visitors go to, obviously. You can go inside to visit all the wonderful furnishings and learn of the history of the castle. All the things are roped off so you can't go in and jump on the beds lol. Also Downton Abbey is pronounced Down-tun not Down-town, that is a song by Petula Clark :) I shall forever more call our castles 'Castley Castles' 😁
"Downt'n", not "Down-Town". ;-)
The Narrator is correct when he says top rated castles in ‘England’.
I would mention that Scotland and Wales also have some great castles too !
ide say apart from Warwick you are 100% correct.
Edinburgh is in another league.
@@paulwild3676 yes it is!
You'd need FAR more time for all of them!
Agree. The Welsh castles are amazing
I live less than a mile from Dover Castle. There are tunnels from which the evacuation of Dunkirk was planned as well as Roman remains
I love Dover castle
Same here less than a mile from the castle plus my daughter in law works there
My son has a good view of Dover Castle from his kitchen window, I’m only a few miles away myself but I think my favourite is Walmer Castle as I love the gardens there.
@@belindawallace5203 I am ashamed to say i have never been to walmer or deal castles but i think it will be on the cards this summer
@@devdebz1 my son and I joined English Heritage when he was about four years old and used to visit Deal Castle a lot when he was younger, he used to love to explore the “rounds” - I don’t know if they still let people borrow a torch as it’s quite dark down there! We used to live walking distance from Walmer Castle and would spend time in the gardens in good weather. I think we’re so lucky to have so much history on our doorstep! I can highly recommend Walmer Castle 👍
This was exactly the wholesome video I needed! I am English and I have loved going to castles since I was little 🥰
Tyler says English castles are " so authentic". We don't do "make believe" castles. This is not Disneyland.
I am incredibly proud of my country. So rich in history, both good and bad.
I am fascinated with our castles. To walk the very same hallways as previous monarchs and powerful historic figures, it never ceases to make me feel emotional.
If memory serves, Bodiam Castle was/is frequently used as a filming location. 🙂 And yes, inhabited castles and palaces still have the owners live there; private areas are being kept private, and there will be times when they're closed to the public to be used for functions by the owner(s). Opening them for visitors helps with taxes and general maintenance, and an organisation, the National Trust, staffs the guides for example.
However, "doing" more than two castles a day, no matter how close, will only cause details to blur -- trust me, you won't remember what you've seen where two weeks later.
interesting little historical fact is that the castle moat has a plug and the type of moat at Bodiam is made to be exceptionally wide but relatively shallow with the original outline border of the moat was designed to keep the water in the mud after the top water was drained so that anyone approaching would be at least waist deep in mud, it was a type of moat design that is rarely remembered by people that do not look to deeply into medieval history but is one of my favorites.
Downton Abbey, not DOWNTOWN! 😂
Its doontoon Abbey in Newcastle
@@freddibna4976 🤣🤣🤣
We are so lucky to have all this history, I love visiting the castles and Forts and still find it fascinating to learn and see more.. joining organisations like National or English Heritage is good as you get discounted entries and it helps keep the places up and running
Edinburgh Castle is my favourite I'm a scotsman. Windsor Castle is magnificent.
When my mum married my step-dad, we moved into the house he had shared with his father. It had been originally built in ~1390, and later added to, being finished in ~1470.
My step-dad had had a previous girlfriend from America, at a time when he had just graduated from Law School.
She phoned her mother and told her, "And the house he lives in was built in the 1400s!"
Her mother - "Well, don't worry dear. He's a lawyer, pretty soon he'll be able to afford a new house."
Talk about ignorance...
Did he?
Did he eventually get to have a brand new home?
That's the American dream!😉
One of the highlights of Dover Castle is the secret war time tunnels that is built into the cliff itself, the tours give you a sense of what it was like during the war
There are currently 7 castles for sale in the UK ranging from £1.700,000 - £30,000,000
That's good news ... I'll just check my piggy bank. Ah great, I have my first door hinge purchased!!
Part of my flat is 14th century, I love it but, though British, I was amazed when I went to Italy that there are early and later medieval Fresco paintings on the walls of small local Churches...! At least most of the British things are tough, like castles, but these painting are incredible.
Yup. Henry the VIII & Oliver Cromwell have a lot to answer for vis a vis Monastries, Cathedrals & Churches. Sigh.
My absolute favourite castle to visit is Arundel Castle to the South of England. Every summer they put on various events. I always make sure to go when they put on the jousting tournament (which they do in full suits of armour!). They also have a medieval market where they sell hand-crafted pieces using medieval practices, like jewellery, woodwork, old style coins. They even have a blacksmith! Highly recommend!
It's a great castle isn't it. Joust is this week coming btw. Fun fact Arundel Castle joust is the only legitimate actual joust, the rest round the country are re-enactments. That's why the jousters have to wear real full on suits of armour, otherwise they'd get severely hurt!! It's a full on proper tournament. 😃
@@abigailporter2933 Oh wow, I didn't realise it was the only real joust! No wonder it's so spectacular! I won't be able to attend the event this year, sadly. Although it will likely continue to be something I attend each year after! I also really liked the fire-eater they had in 2022. He was so much fun!
@laiky4373 it's always a good tournament for sure. Glad you enjoyed the 2022 one and the fire eater. Yes, the fact it's a real tournament is pretty awesome, because of the Dukes premier position as Earl Marshall, it's why he can hold a legitimate tournament. It's certainly going to be hot weather this year, so I'm sure it'll draw in the crowds (I'm not a fan of really hot weather so will be hiding indoors whilst the tournament battles on!!) Lovely speaking to you. 🕊
The castles and stately homes are open to the public, have festivals and functions because these things pay for the upkeep of these buildings. These are listed buildings so they are protected by laws. This maintenance has to be in keeping with keeping the structure history intact that cost alot of money. This is how the family owners pay for it.
The thing that I think most Americans don’t get is that there are literally hundreds of castles in Great Britain, as most towns and city’s here are ancient and they grew up around a castle. Castles were built by a river ( only water source available ) the town grew up around the castle , so most places have at least one. I lived in a tiny town Welsh town ( Hay-On-Wye ) and the castle was next door ( my home was an Elizabeth shop ). The castles aren’t all huge and many are remains now rather than fully functioning building , some are lived in and not open to the public , but as I said there’s plenty to go round .
Dover castle is not built on a river.
There a lot of great medieval castles in UK and many are in a quite good state and in Spain/Portugal too, i still have preference for french ones but many have been destroyed by the King central power, religion wars, revolution or used as stone quarry etc... Germany many ones but they have "gothic" style, in general prefer early medieval castles when it was all about war!!! English have fantastic websites with great drawings about UK castles recronstruction (often at different times in history), i wish France had same kind of website.
@@TC2290-wh5cb Nop, but with a water course underneath . A castle had to have a water supply close by .
@@welshpete12 Dover Castle uses a well.
There’s even more in Germany (think 22,000)
With Tyler, Downton Abbey becomes DowntoWn Abbey.
LMAO
I thought he said downtown abbey
This has been endlessly pointed out to him in earlier reactions. More proof that he never reads the comments he invites.
Not to mention mangling the names of places immediately after he hears the narrator say them!! 🤪
ED It got too painful at 17:00 - War-wick castle, he seems to have almost zero verbal memory. [ often signs of a fool ]
Very frustrating… doesn’t help that Alnwick is mispronounced by the narrator :/
I wonder why Uptown Abbey didn't make the list. 🤔😂
🇬🇧 🇬🇧 Warwick Castle is a FABULOUS day out , ever. It is NOT a ruin. If you stay in a medieval style lodge on site , then the Castle is free.
Go on a day trip from London or Oxford.
It’s more of a theme Park
I enjoyed visiting Hampton Court. This was Henry the Vlll’s castle.
You can find castles like this all over Europe. And they often have shows runned by associations with volunteers.
Runned?
@@eddisstreet Could be run 🧐
There are more than 4,000 castles dotted around the UK. Many of the UK's castles began life as Bronze or Iron Age forts, built to provide defence against potential invaders. Forts tended to be built on high ground which offered good visibility of the surrounding landscape.
Just listen already!!!!!
"Highlights of a visit include guided tour of the interior..."
Tyler: "Are you allowed to go inside and explore?"
Actually, you can usually choose whether to take a guided tour, or walk around at your own pace- but in the castles that have furnished interiors there is a member of staff or a volunteer stationed in each room to ensure you treat the place respectfully- and also anwer any of your questions about the castle in general, and what you can see in front of you.
A lot of castles that are not ruined are still at least partially inhabited still, as well as being open to the Public. The public don't get to see the private rooms of the family, but the family do still use the state rooms on occasion when not open to the public.
Hahahaha - Tyler looking at an interior shot of Alnwick and talking about how it was showing what it was like 1000 yers ago.... Probably more like 200.....
Could you visit them all (English castles) in a week? Nope. There are over 4000 in England alone, never mind Wales and Scotland. That's about 571 per day.....
To be honest, he didn’t even have to listen, he just had to actually read the title of the video he selected to watch…Top 10 Castles to Visit in England.
I was visiting Arundel Castle with my parents in the early 1960's, I must have spent ages looking at a portrait of the 1st Duke of Bedford and my parents had wandered off, a man's voice from behind started to describe the portrait, I turned round to thank him and introduce myself to him, he thanked me and introduced himself, the then Duke of Bedford. That still occurs today if the family still reside in a Castle or House, who better than a family member.
Comments are more the result of the standard of education in the US and their insular society 🇦🇺🦘
“There’s a 14th century castle nearby which I pass every day on my way to work” Americans “OH MY GOD, THAT’S AMAZING”. Brits & Irish “Meh 🤷♂️”.
And these are just in England! Wales and Scotland have beautiful castles as well. Look at Edinburgh Castle. Having moved to UK from Italy (where we have our fare share of castles)10 years ago I really enjoy wisiting them. I even subscribed to English Heritage wich is a trust that restore and manage historical buildings. If you do that in a lot of them you can enter for free.
Alnwick Castle is still owned and lived in by the Duke of Northumberland. It's open to the public and the Duke and his family live in a seperate private part of the castle.
@10:19
Tyler, ya see the statue of the knight on a horse? Notice that the horse has one leg off the ground. That indicates the knight later died of wounds received in battle. If the horse was reared back & both front legs off the ground, means died in battle. All four hoofs on the ground; died naturally.
The Tower of London. I love the Tower of London. Way, way back in 1988, me and two buddies on leave from Germany flew to London to spend the week there & surprise some friends we made three months previously when the Queen's Colour Squadron of the Royal Air force Regiment performed at Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo, here in Halifax, of which the three of us were involved with. One such friend was the Chief Warrant Officer of the squadron. He asked us the next morning what we were going to do. I said visit the Tower of London. Doug picked up the phone & called his buddy who at the time, was one of the senior Warders at the Tower. Man, we walked right past the line of about 500 people, gave or names at the entrance, waited five minutes, and got the most awesome, unofficial, behind the scenes tour of the place. We had lunch in the Yeoman Warders' mess. What a fantastic day for a history freak like me. All those years ago, and I remember every minute of it.
Leg position on horse statues is a myth. Some conform...others do not...and there are enough that do not for it not to be a very good rule, same as i before e except after c where there are tons and tons of exceptions that break that 'rule'.
Albert, Prince Consort (Holborn). One hoof up. Victoria’s husband was an intellectual, not a warrior, and never sustained a battle wound. ❌
Charles I (Charing Cross). One hoof up. Never wounded in battle. ❌
Edward VII (Waterloo Place). One hoof up. Died in old age. ❌
Earl Haig (Whitehall). One hoof up. The first world war commander evaded serious injury, despite presiding over the Western Front. Died of a heart attack in later life. ❌
George III (Pall Mall). One hoof up. He never fought a battle. ❌
William III (St James’s Square). Two hooves up. Did not die in battle, but after falling from his horse. ❌
That's 6 of about 15 in London alone that don't follow the rule i.e. 40%...elsewhere around the world it's pretty much the same story. Cool story, but false unfortunately.
You should check out the castles in Wales (there are more castles per square mile than any other country in the world) we used to be quite rebellious inWales😊
😉😉
Anlwick Castle is LIVED in by the Duke of Northumberland, it is pronounced more like annick. During the time when England and scotland fought each other constantly, the Dukes were the first line of English defence and responsible for keeping the peace in the north of England. Although some castles are still privately owned they need tourism to raise fumds for the up keep.
I much prefer 'proper' fortress castles to ones that have become (or always were) 'stately homes'. Shout out for Goodrich Castle for a great example of one in England even if it may as well be in Wales which is where most of the best ones in the UK are (you could easily walk to Chepstow castle from England for a taster). For a setting I might pick Dunstanburgh in Northumberland though, makes for a tremendous walk.
I am Australian but connected with family still in England through Ancestry. My third cousin's father had sadly passed before I contacted but he was the family genealogy researcher and passed all the information on to her, so I was able to learn a lot. On one side of the family, our ancestors had a castle - Croft Castle in Croft, Herefordshire, owned by the Croft family since 1085, was sold, but repurchased by the family in the 1920's, then given to the National Trust. I really didn't expect that - but if I ever go to UK, I would love to drop in for afternoon tea.. hehe I think my direct line fell on hard times, as my great-grandmother was a lady's companion at Birdingbury Hall, which in itself is an impressive building. Retiring soon, so I hope to see these wonderful buildings for myself. 😊
How sad that you live in a modern country the other side of the world and have never seen the places which connect you to your ancestry. You must come here and explore.
@@valeriedavidson2785yes..funny thing is my cousin lives in Oxford but she has never been to Birdingbury (Warwickshire) either! She said if I come over, we will go together. 😊
I'm impressed you know who your third cousins are. I don't even know who my second cousins are, never mind third. I could walk past them in the street and not know.
I was between jobs and visiting Warwick Castle when I got a call from my business manager. We talked but after a while he asked what that noise was in the background and I said, "Oh, that's just two guys in armour, beating crap out of each other with swords."
Love Warwick Castle.
ROFLMAO 🤣.
years ago my family was involved in battles, uncle made armor, chainmail, swords all the stuff you see he made, he getting on now but he just finished helmet as realistic as possible for a castle display, sadly think that his last one. years ago my uncle , mum traveled around wales and England not so much England but few i remember that Warwick castle, mum uncle took parts in the fights on top of birds of prey display me my brother walked around dressed in costume with real bow arrows custom made by specialist with a bird prey. not done events for 15 years ish now but growing up was great fun but my uncle did not stop making weapons in his home for these events, had a eagle owl till only very recent. played a good role in lots events over the years,at night we all camp up in field huge camp fire everyone getting very drunk. lots fun times and great memory's, still got painted image at my mums with event i hold the kestrel, mum in battle, still got bow and arrow in loft, it a real weapon, and sure lots other stuff hidden away. funny thing only 4 miles from Warwick castle now, just over a mile from Kenilworth castle my home town and my driving test past Warwick castle
My 4th great grandfather was the gate keeper at Alnwick Castle and lived in the gate house. He was appointed after saving the owner, Sir Percy at the Battle of Bunker Hill. You'll know about that!
p.s. pronunciation guide - Warwick Castle phonetically is worrik casul. Ta!
Fascinating bit of family history. Could it have been a different battle, as Wiki says Percy missed Bunker Hill?
@peterellis1307 you could well be correct but George Kirk, my GG was at that battle and Percy rewarded him. George's medal is on display in the museum.
@martinsmith1573 I reckon your 4th GG was probably in a few battles over there, Martin. It looks like Percy was a capable commander and forward-thinking when it came to taking care of his men. I'm not surprised he looked after your GG in civilian life. He also it seems did not get on very well with the, General in charge of the British forces. The last time I was at Alnwick Castle, I missed out on the Fusileers Regitmental museum. Too much time spent looking at crockery and flying broomsticks, I'm afraid. When I'm next there, i must rectify that, and I'll look out for your GGs medal. Thanks to your post, I've had a pleasant hour or so reading about Hugh Percy and about the 5th Regiment of Foot. Cheers Martin 🍻
Thanks Peter. I haven't seen George's medal either and will rectify this. It's my duty! Best, Martin
Alnwick, pronounced Annik.
When my mother and I visited the Tower of London, on many occasions, we were disgusted to learn that a tourist of unknown nationality had actually removed one of the Tudor roses from the wall, As far as I can remember the walls were then protected by Perspex, our history being destroyed for the sake of a memento.
I live in a small countryside town in Southwest of England and we have two castles here. A Norman one from the 1100s and a Tudor one from the 1500s.
Buckingham Palace is NOT a castle. It began as a manor house, Buckingham House, and then was bought by George III in the 1700s for his wife Queen Charlotte and became Buckingham Palace.
The famous frontage (of state rooms) was added just before WW1. The old house is still there, hidden away at the back.
😠 If you had paid attention to what Tyler actually said, you would not have posted such a critical comment. Note that the narrator said that the Tower of London was once a palace, and a castle in turn.
Best kind of reaction video: someone genuinely in awe of what they're seeing and actually enjoying the reaction themselves rather than just content creating.
Dude is a huge troll lol, he reacts to everything the same way and never interacts with his viewers. Its probably why his sub count is doing poorly. I unsubbed ages ago but his videos pop up every now and again.
@@_Professor_Oak ... I don't think he even bothers to read the comments.
I agree up to a point. Some reactors create a narrative, a journey into a subject and build a relationship with viewers as they take them on their journey. Tyler, rightly or wrongly, seems to take the approach that he's constantly appealing to new viewers and kind of presents a naiveté where everything is awesome and amazing. But that aside, on some videos it's more apparent he's genuinely enjoying the content he's reacting too rather than being in competition with his brother, clinically harvesting likes and views. To me, this was one of those reactions. 🤷🏼♂️
If you don't realize that Tyler's enthusiasm is fake, then you must be as dumb as he is...
Hes not in awe at all... its just an act... very fake and quite irritating
William The Conqueror had London Tower built just outside the walls of London city. At the time, it towered over the remaining Roman ruins and Anglo-Saxon city. Hence, The Tower.
Wait till Tyler finds out which Tube station you use to visit The Tower of London, his mind will be blown.
There are some who think the White Tower was actually a renovated Roman building.
@@lat1419 It might well be, or at least built on Roman foundations. It was quite common to reuse foundations/cellars/dungeons etc of older structures.
@dfuher968 look at the white tower- the fenestration is clearly roman
Pity you only did English castles as there are way more across the UK. I'm from Edinburgh and our castle is amazing!
My favourite Castle is Hever Castle in Kent. A small Castle, It was Anne Boleyn's childhood home, Anne was HenryVIII's second wife.
There's a pretty lace cap on display that belonged to Anne when she was a little child. HenryVIII had visited the castle a few times.
As a Brit, I find it so interesting that it is the actual defensive castles that feel "authentic", rather than the "showing off how affluent I am" castles. In a very real sense they are more authentic, and I love that the fact come across for you in the video! If you fancy a follow up, there are amazing castles in Scotland, Wales, France, and Spain, so if you ever want to dive into a rabbit hole of castles, there's so much to enjoy!
As a Brit, I can't get enough of castles! We have English Heritage membership and really make the most of it, as it includes Welsh (CADW) and Scottish (Historic Environment Scotland) properties.
@@jeanrobinson705 Oh that's really handy to know - thank you! It's good to know that the orgs are all working together, England does tend to hog the limelight, and anything that encourages people to explore more widely is a definite plus!
Highclere Castle is a castle in name only. Originally a bishop's Palace, it was rebuilt as a house and altered many times. It now appears to be in a Jacobean style, but was actually made to look that way in Victorian times.
I used to see Norwich castle from my window at an old job I had. I got used to seeing it, it wasn't until I'd moved and not seen it for a while that I noticed how amazing it is to be able to see that every day.
I went to Dover and the castle last year for the first time on one of the few sunny warm days. I was knackerd by the end and fell asleep on the train home. It is huge. And Dover its self is a beautiful place to see. Had a great afternoon tea at a small tea shop with amazing scones.
Yes Dover Castle is one of the best. --- Last summer 2023 had Many warm sunny days!
Very surprised he has not heard of Dover..really? I think the white cliffs of Dover are very famous..and I am not British.
@@nolajoy7759 I went on the cliffs and it was pretty cool, you can see France from them lol. I wanted to go into the castle but it took half the day to even walk around most of the cliffs lmao.
@@jlwkss Im a born and bred Dovorian, and when you can see France on a clear day you are really looking at Mainland Europe, Dover is the gateway too Europe
Hi 👋 it's not just castles in England how ever there are over 4000 of them some just rubble! 16000 church's of England, 97 Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals 3000 stately homes 26 million victoriana houses.... more importantly 39162 in 2024 PUBS 😊 sadly down about 300 from 2023 my previous house was built around 1811 to 1820 in Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire, in the deeds for the house was stated i couldn't dig a well, sell coal, or potatoes.... the well thing possible because there was a Spa bath's in the village and possible sold Spa water and possible was the owner of the land (just a guess) as for the not selling coal and potatoes, the house was next to a railway and possible had something to do with that??? Many strange bylaws in England. Loving your views on England very interesting to hear 👍
We can see Hampton Court Palace from our windows, and it always makes me smile.
As kids we went there so often we memorised the maze, and ran through it - and thought ourselves so clever. 😂
Hands up if you were that kid too.
@tumbleweed860
When i was a lecturer in London, i commuted from Hampton Court Station into Waterloo. We often walked through the grounds of the palace along the River Thames to Kingston to do some shopping.
A good drinking game would be to take a sip every time Tyler said 'Wow' in this video - or maybe not 😂😂
Slam a tequila when he says "What"
You’d say goodbye to your liver if you did that 😂
An American: "I dont believe they can be living there as they are giving tours", meanwhile in the Whitehouse.
You can visit many castles . Including Windsor castle which was the late Queen’s favourite . Arundel castle built in the 11th century near me you can visit . The Duke of Norfolk lives there
Take it from me there are a lot of lived in castles. Revenues from tourists helps maintain these castles. Parts are partitioned off to tourists, you have to look on a set course, you can’t wander around willy nilly.
@@christinehoughton8591 you seem to be confused, the American is Tyler and I quoted him exactly and I simply highlighted that it's kind of weird of him to be surprised when the White house , which is inhabited by the US president has tours.
Alnwick is pronounced Annick!
@@jedworthy why is it everyone seems to be replying to other comments on mine? I haven't mentioned pronunciation at all and I know the pronunciation because I am English and am quite used to place names not being pronounced phonetically.
Arundel Castle is home to the premier noble in the land. The Duke of Norfolk.
Dover Castle has been a fortress for centuries. It's underground tunnels were used extensively for military purposes during World War 2.
The castle everyone sees is 18th & 19th century. The Norman castle is tucked away behind it.
You can visit Inside Arundel castle but not cheap
Loved your reactions! I am English and was born in Kent so I have visited many of these castles even as a young boy. Yes, you can normally simply walk around the outsides and insides too. We Brits take our castles and stately houses pretty much for granted. Rochester Castle, Bodliam Castle, Leeds Castle, Dover Castle, Walmer Castle and of course the infamous Tower of London which still houses the Crown Jewels. You would not have wanted to be there. It was where Traitors were Hung, Drawn and Quartered!
We have so much history for a small Island. Most of it was full of violence, invasions and uprisings! This is why all the castles. Leeds Castle was used by Henry 8th as a Love Nest!
Don't forget the lovely Hever Castle, childhood home of Anne Boleyn ❤️
@@PsychicPsal1742 Yes, I have been there too! Lovely castle.
i competed in an English longbow archery competition at Raby castle in north east England once, it was a lot of fun shooting my bow with the castle in the background, really transported me back in time.
I’ve been to Warwick Castle about 4 times. It’s a brilliant Castle to visit.
and very, very, very expensive!
You seemed surprised that the Tower of London was once a royal zoo. It's absolutely true- going all the way back to at least the reign of King John (who gained the throne in 1199, and started paying lion keepers in 1210), through to 1831 (after Ensign Seymour was bitten by a monkey, or so the story goes) the Tower, in addition to its normal purpose, housed the Royal Menagerie. The last of the animals were moved out of the Tower of London to Regent's Park in 1835 (the majority of the stock had been relocated to London Zoo in 1831).
By the 18th century, the Menagerie was even open to the public, for the price of either 3 ha'pennies, or a cat/dog to be fed to the lions.
Alnwick Castle was used for a number of the external shots of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, but it wasn't the only location used- some angles were shot at Bamburgh Castle, any footage in the quad was actually filmed in the cloisters at Durham Cathedral, the Slytherin common room was Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington... there were lots of locations used.
Yes, there are still people living in Alnwick Castle- they opened it up to the public to help defray the maintenance costs on the place (this is relatively common among inhabited castles, as they're incredibly expensive to run. Other English castles in a similar position which are good visits include Skipton Castle in Yorkshire, and Raby Castle in County Durham). One really cool feature of Alnwick which the video didn't mention is the Gardens, including the Poison Garden (where every plant grown there can be deadly in and of itself, or used to produce toxic substances. Also cannabis, which has hilariously more fencing keeping you from picking it than the plant that makes you commit suicide if you come into contact with it...).
As for castles they missed- I've mentioned Bamburgh, Skipton and Raby, but there's plenty more (even limiting yourself to just England, rather than the whole of Great Britain; Wales in particular has a ton of spectacular castles, but Scotland has its share as well). I'd highly recommend Kenilworth, Warkworth, Carisbrooke, Lindisfarne, Bolsover, Clitheroe, Lincoln, Helmsley, Scarborough, Nottingham, Tamworth, and St Michael's Mount when it comes to England.
Thanks, that was very informative, never knew that was how London zoo was started!
People live in the Tower of London, not just the Beefeaters. It even has its own postcode C1. Apparently, it's very hard to get pizzas delivered there since they assume its a prank half the time so they often get it delivered to the Starbuck next door to pick up.
Technically, that wasn't how London Zoo got started, as that opened in 1828, but it did pick up a lot of animals as a result of the Royal Menagerie closing (there were nearly 300 animals in the Menagerie in 1831, up from 17 in 1805, as the last Keeper of the Menagerie was big on acquisitions)@@marioniopionio
I don't think you can realise how huge these castles are from pics alone, even the smallest ones mate.
One can even make a reservation to dine in the Parliament's dining room (it's a public space, after all, by British law) and I was planning to take my then-fiancee to that dinner on a trip to London, without warning... I even made the reservation. It never happened, but it was her surprise birthday date. I'm still hoping to be able to do it later on.
European in general have some fantastic castles but the UK has some of the most accessible and maintained. Edinburgh Castle is superb. Yes a lot are still occupied.
I live very close to Arundel Castle it is stunning to visit and you can see weapons armour and the interior or the time but also from a distance as shown on the clip it’s just beautiful. It also has its outer walls that originally encompassed the castle and its grounds now encompasses a large part the town of Arundel. We may not have the sunshine and beaches the the USA have but being so close to our history in such majesty is awesome I mean some of our castles are over a 1000 years old they’ve been around longer than America’s existed and I love that we have such a long history and buildings that show it.
It's true. A couple of years ago, I was in London for a string of concerts I'd booked tickets for. And during the day, I decided to take advantage of being down south and to take the train for little day trips to various towns and cities down south that would normally be too far to travel to from home. It was so easy to hop on the train and within an hour, your in a new place with lots of interesting castles, unique architecture and museum. Rochester was one of them and I did go around the castle. It was a nice little town and a cool Castle, though, mostly ruins. But a nice little day trip from London. And then straight back to London to see the last of the concerts. Overall an awesome week away.
(edit) Should have waited til the end to post this comment. I also on that same week away visited the Tower of London on the day I decided to stay in London instead of heading out. It is one of the best Castles i've ever visited. I also on that trip visited Colchester Castle. All 3 in less than a week. Anyone planning on coming to Britain, If you can stay longer than a few days, I'd highly recommend staying in London but heading out to different cities and towns on the train. You can get a lot of stuff like this done in nice easy day trips from London.
Beauiful England.....and he needs to get out more....see Europe...maybe....
Tyler: Have you done England's great houses? Castle Howard, Chatsworth, etc. The entry fee can be rather expensive, but joining Historic Houses or a similar organisation can give access to many for an annual membership. Some, like Castle Howard, do their own membership for as many visits to this house as you desire in a 12-month period.
Now look at Welsh castles. Wales has the most castles per square mile than any other country. Check out Conwy (where I proposed to my wife) and Caernarfon castle. There both amazing.
A castely castle 😂 priceless. You are right, we do take these castles for granted. In the county of Kent alone there are 30 castles - that’s one for every 30 square miles - all an hour at most by train from London. As a London resident I’m certainly going to visit more English castles now!!! Sometimes it takes someone from overseas to highlight just how special things are here as we’re so busy running our own country down which is a shame.
On one family holiday in Northumberland we visited 9 different castles in 6 days. And by the way the square towers you refer to as the castle is actually called the keep. A castle is made up of the keep, buildings and outer walls.
In Europe we have castles in every country, many are ruins but also many are still in very good shape. In Finland, Sweden Denmark, Italy, Spain , even Romania, Britannia, Wales, Ireland...
Also all those on the Rhine in Germany.
ronnyrudeboy: you have forgotten the country with by far most castles in the world: Germany (with over 25000 castles). And if one takes the Holy Roman Empire (with Germany as base but it included masses of now other countries which are now Austria, Switzerland, partly Northern Italy, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, part of France, Belgium, Netherlands, parts of Poland, Baltics, Bohemia/Czech - many communities in Eastern Europe (technically also Spain etc. - which was just a Habsburg Branch, Portugal, Rome, Sicily and so on) then those Germans created something about 100000-200000 castles, maybe much more. Among them are also the biggest castle in the world (Marlbork castle, created by the German Teutonic Order - now part of Poland) or the longest (Burghausen/Germany), storywise also interesting is the Frankenstein castle in Hessen/Germany (where a real dynasty of Frankensteins lived for centuries, also an Alchemist who really seek for the Elixir of Life with now dubious methods - all that inspired Mary Shelby, who traveled the region for her famous 'Frankenstein' novel ). One of the reasons why there are many castles especially in Germany itself is that the Holy Roman Empire was a very fragmented complex Empire with masses of little states (also the reason why Germany has most cities in Europe) and its geographical position right in the center of Europe (its a kind of interface position - from a greater perspective also together with other Central Europe regions (which are also the birthplace of the all Indo-European subcultures of the more Western branches: Proto-Germanic from Northern Germany, Proto-Celtic from Southern Germany/Austria (Hallstatt), Proto-Slavic from a region between the neighbor and farer East and Proto-Italic in Hungary (before they moved over to Italy). Also all Rainessances happened in exactly this region (from the Germanic Frankish Empire (France is just the remain of the Western part of that) where in Aachen/Germany happened under Karl dem Grossen (Karolus Magnus, wrongly named 'Charlemagne' - no one with that name existed) the Carolingian Rainessances happend, later the Northern Rainessances, the one in Northern Italy and Rome (all of that was directly or indirectly part of the Holy Roman Empire) and so on. The oldest castles are btw. in Germany/Austria and UK. One has to keep furthermore in mind that most castles were already destroyed at medieval times for a couple of more profane smaller conflicts (sometimes just neighboring nobilities - or substitutions, moving toanother spot) not during the world wars (even if the 30 year war really destroyed a lot). Annd castles are not castles, they changed over time. Not every castles which looks like a 'defensive' castle is one, it was already often back then just a superficial defense and the focus more on representation while others have a very complex and real defense construction. Also castles changed over time due to the evolution of weapons: when canons became more and more a thing triangle like fortress structures became more and more a thing. The 'Spandau Citadel' in Berlin is a great example of a more fortress like construction but also castles like Hohentwiel which is a massive multi level castle site (starting from 915 or earlier and changing over time - its more like castles within castles (Matroschka puppets like) bt represents a good combination between older castles structures and later changed/added constructions with more fortress focus) . Now, in detail castles/palaces etc. are often much more different and represent very different environments/epoches and owner focus than it appears on a superficial view, one can find overall in Europe good representations of the historical contexts of that time. It is not just 'ok, old castles are just old castles'. Already just side aspects of castles like 'prisons' changed over time (it was NOT usual that castles had 'dungeon' like prisons. On the contrary, many were quite comfy, nice and overground - just some rooms or in a tower but not 'bad'. Such constructions came later) ... the reason for triangle like extensions for fortresses or fortress castles was btw. that the canon balls could hit less hard with such shapes. and serious constructed ones also had on one hand an earth-wall before that and 'lower' buildings so the entire construction is less vulnerable and more difficult to aim at. There are also different regional differenes between Europe - like some preferred more keeps/towers with certain functions, others not. already a tower in itself is quite different for different purposes and changed over time. Some castles were constructed with another closeby castle in mind - sometimes also some parts (like doorways) were just created to give a good view on the other castle - others with more practical reasons in mind. one also had already at medieval time competion between neighbor dynasties/nobilities etc. (or as said: trying to destruct the other castles. here also laws for knights, fehde etc. plaid a role)
I'm English and I can confurm that we had a lot more castels then people think, but most are basicly distroyed because farmers took the stones to make there small walls around there plot, so if you see a half distroyed castle,it may not just be war and age, but sneeky farmers stealing the stones
nope, most were Slighted to stop rebels using them again after the English Civil War.. of course people took the stones then.
@@niallrussell7184 but also farmers
If you ARE English then your poor spelling does not reflect that. If in doubt, please use a dictionary.
@@angharaddenby3389 :|, I can try just don't be like that please?
our local castle stones were pillaged by the church, to build village churches around our county
Many castles are lived in and are also open to tourists. In order to pay for the upkeep fairs, concerts etc. are common.
Bamburgh cast is much more impressive than most of the earlier ones shown here. It is on the North East coast, one of the Northumbrian castles protecting the coastline from attack.
You can walk all around a bronze age hill fort a few miles from where I live for free. Most of these hill forts are easy to spot on the landscape and are all over the place here in England. When you think that they date back to around 2000 BC, that's around 4000 years ago and they are still there, its pretty amazing !
I can't believe the thumbnail said "These actually exist?" Wow. Nah, we just made them up using CGI and photoshop.
The level of ignorance is mindboggling.
😂
Perhaps, don’t say they don’t exist. Americans don’t understand irony is in our everyday language.😝😂
Every single county has a castle or castles.
Some are at town centres, others are in the countryside.
I have met people who take a short cut through castle grounds to get to work every day.
They're usually too busy looking at their phones to bother about looking at castles.
For tourists, a castle is a good place for a picnic, but some have their own cafés (but I should point out - no Big Macs - sorry to disappoint).
The county of Bristol doesn’t have a castle anymore
@@morganetches3749Gloucestershire has a few. I didn’t know Bristol was a county. I have learnt something.
@@paulwild3676 Bristol was the first city (other than London) to become a county in its own right - in 1373 when Edward III separated us from Gloucestershire and Somerset. We were briefly incorporated into “Avon”. An abomination that was soon abolished. We are a county - we have Lord Lieutenant and all that!
We used to have a castle, but now it’s just some rocks in a park
@@morganetches3749 I never knew that. I think something similar happened to Newcastle, when it was removed from Northumberland. I don’t think London was a county as early as Bristol. London was in Middlesex, Surrey, Kent and Essex quite recently. Well in the last 150 years at least.
Does Greater Manchester have a castle?
Yes ! The us has castles 🏰 ❤😍😍😍but they were built, and a lot of British history and people ❤❤❤
There are still ppl living in some of the castles today but the families allow tours to boost incomes to run the castles and there upkeep as all castles are grade1 listed