Aydon Castle photos

The entrance to Aydon Castle. Aydon Castle is now managed by English Heritage, although it belonged to the Blackett family of Matfen until 1966.

The door to the inner courtyard. Aydon Castle overlooks the valley of the Cor Burn in Northumberland. Aydon Castle is an outstanding example of a thirteenth-century manor house.

It was built by Robert de Raymes, a prosperous Ipswich merchant. Unfortunately his arrival in the north coincided with the outbreak of fierce hostilities between England and Scotland, and the castle was pillaged and burned by the Scots in 1315. Robert died in 1323 and by then the war had destroyed him financially.