The site now occupied by Bamburgh Castle was previously home to a fort of the Celtic Britons known as Din Guarie[5] and may have been the capital of the kingdom of Bernicia, the realm of the Gododdin people,[6] from the realm's foundation in c. 420 until 547, the year of the first written reference to the castle. In that year, the citadel was captured by the Anglo-Saxon ruler Ida of Bernicia (Beornice) and became Ida's seat.[7] The Anglo-Saxons called the place Bebbanburh, meaning "Queen Bebba's stronghold";[8] this was later corrupted into the modern "Bamburgh". Aidan of Lindisfarne came to this area from the monastery of Iona in 635 on behalf of King Oswald of Northumbria.
Following the defeat of Northumbrian forces by the Viking Great Heathen Army, at York in 867, the Kingdom of Northumbria disintegrated. Southern Northumbria became the Viking-ruled Kingdom of York, while north remained under Anglo-Saxon control under the high reeves of Bamburgh. The territory finally became part of the Kingdom of England in 954.
The late medieval village began to develop near the castle.[9] During the dissolution of the monasteries the property of the friars, including the castle, was seized on behalf of Henry VIII.[10]
According to Bede, St Aidan built a wooden church outside the castle wall in AD 635, and he died here in AD 652. A wooden beam preserved inside the church is traditionally said to be the one on which he rested as he died.[14] The present church dates from the late 12th century, though some pre-conquest stonework survives in the north aisle. The chancel, said to be the second-longest in the country (60 ft; 18 m), was added in 1230; it contains an 1895 reredos in Caen stone by W.S. Hicks, depicting northern saints of the 7th and 8th centuries. There is an effigy of local heroine Grace Darling in the north aisle. This formed part of the original monument to Grace Darling but was removed due to weathering of the stonework. Her memorial is sited in the churchyard in such a position that passing ships can see it.[15]
The property has been Grade I listed since December 1969. The listing summary includes this description:[16]
"Parish church. C12, C13 and C14. Restored 1830 and later C19. Squared stone and ashlar; chancel and north transept have stone slate roofs; other roofs not visible. West tower, nave, aisles, transepts and chancel".
After the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid-1500s, the monks were forced to leave and St Aidan's became the parish church for the village. Over the subsequent centuries there were major repairs and restorations.[17][18]
The church's crypt holds the remains of 110 individuals who died in the 7th and 8th centuries; they had initially been buried in the castle's Bowl Hole graveyard. The remains were found during a project between 1998 and 2007. In 2016, they were moved into the crypt. Since November 2019, the crypt can be viewed by visitors through a small gate.[19]
Governance
An electoral ward of the same name exists. This ward includes Belford and also stretches south to Ellingham with a total population taken at the 2011 census of 4,846.[20]
In popular culture
Bamburgh Castle, under its Saxon name Bebbanburg, is the ancestral home of Uhtred, the main character in Bernard Cornwell's historical 13-novel series The Saxon Stories,[21] published 2004–2020, which was made into the BBC and Netflix five-season series The Last Kingdom 2015–2022.
Bamburgh is also featured in the open-world video game series Forza Horizon 4 released in October 2018.
Additionally, Bamburgh is featured in the Realtime Strategy video game Ancestors Legacy released in 2018.
