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The site of Bamburgh Castle has been occupied since the
1st century BC. The first historical mention of Bamburgh is in 547 when it
was the seat of an Anglo-Saxon King Ida. Ida's grandson Ethelfrith gave
the castle to his wife Bebba and over the years 'Bebbanburgh' became
Bamburgh. In 993 marauding Vikings left Bamburgh Castle in ruins. A new
stone castle was built at Bamburgh by the Normans, the great keep probably
being completed by Henry II. It remained impregnable from its first siege
by William II in 1095 until its last in 1464 and during this time it
remained a Royal stronghold. In 1464 Bamburgh became the first castle to
succumb to cannon fire during the Wars of the Roses when it suffered heavy
damage. Thereafter it gradually fell into disrepair and ruin with only the
Norman Keep remaining intact. The ruins of the castle were restored and
extended in the 18th and 19th centuries leaving little of the earlier
fortifications. In 1894 the castle was bought by the 1st Lord Armstrong,
an inventor and industrialist, who started his own programme of
reconstruction and modernisation and it still remains the home of the
Armstrong family.
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During the late 18th Century Lord Crewe, Bishop
of Durham, built a windmill at the north end of the castle, which
ground corn, for distribution to the poor.
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Looking towards the Farne Islands
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Looking towards Lindisfarne
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Memorial for the First and Second World Wars
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The remains of the Chapel of St Peter in
which King Oswald's relics were kept. The apse dates from Norman
Times.
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"The 1st Lord Armstrong 1810-1900
A genius in his time
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do
do it with thy might"
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Grace Horsley Darling was born in Bamburgh on 24th
November 1815. When she was 3 weeks old she was taken to live on Brownsman
Island in the Farne Islands where her father William was the lighthouse
keeper. In 1826 the family moved to a new lighthouse on Longstone.
The steamship Forfarshire was wrecked in a gale on
September 7th 1838 and over 40 lives were lost. Grace saw the wreck and
spotted survivors, William thought that weather conditions would have
prevented the launching of the Seahouses lifeboat, so Grace and her father
rowed out in the storm for almost a mile to avoid jagged rocks. Grace
rowed alone against the tide and the gale while William went ashore to
reach the survivors, together they took 5 people back to the lighthouse.
William and 2 of the crew then returned to fetch the remaining 4
survivors.
On the 20th October 1842 Grace died of tuberculosis and
in 1844 the public raised the money to build a monument to Grace
overlooking the sea in St Aidan's Churchyard, with Queen Victoria being
the first to contribute to its cost.
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The Grace Darling memorial, in St Aidan's Churchyard
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The Darling Family Grave:
Job Horsley died 1830 age 20
Grace Horsley died 1842 age 26
Thomasin died 1848 age 74
William died 1865 age 79
Thomasin died 1886 age 78
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Grace Horsley Darling was born here on 24th November 1815
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Grace Darling's birthplace:
her Grandfather's cottage
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Grace Horsley Darling died here on 20th October
1842
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The house where Grace died
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The Darling Family Grave with the Grace Darling memorial
in the distance
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St Aidan's Church is mainly 13thC
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