Feeling Festive: Christmas at Bamburgh Castle

This post refers to the 2022 12 Days of Christmas at Bamburgh Castle art installation. Please refer to the Bamburgh Castle website for news of current and upcoming events!

Our recent wedding anniversary break in Northumberland was the perfect opportunity to return to Bamburgh. We had strolled along the beautiful beach and stopped for lunch at the small village on previous visits to the North East, but had never actually visited the castle itself. But when I saw that Bamburgh Castle was hosting a festive “12 Days of Christmas” installation, we decided to make a castle visit part of our anniversary celebrations. And it was a magical way to get in the festive mood.

Bamburgh Castle

Located on the Northumbrian coast, Bamburgh is one of the largest inhabited castles in the country. Perched on basalt rock, the imposing castle towers over the village and can be spotted for miles along the coast. On a clear day, you can see Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands on the horizon.

With it’s earliest recorded history in Saxon times, Bamburgh has hosted a succession of kings. It was famously the first castle to fall to gunfire, during the War of the Roses. In the late 19th century, Bamburgh Castle was bought by William Armstrong; the Armstrong family still resides there today. Many of the state rooms though are open to the public, showcasing an impressive collection of objet d’art, tapestries and ceramics.

12 Days of Christmas at Bamburgh Castle

For the 2022 festive season, the 14 state rooms of Bamburgh Castle have been transformed, with each room themed around the 12 days of Christmas. There are lords-a-leaping, maids-a-milking and naturally, the whole shebang starts off with a partridge in a shimmering pear tree.

Ornate fireplaces are draped with foliage, feathers and bows, and trees are festooned with all sorts of brightly coloured baubles and decorations from nutcrackers to local seabirds. There’s even an onsite Christmas shop selling beautiful baubles, a perfect souvenir of your Christmas at Bamburgh visit. We love a good Christmas bauble to remind us of our trips.

There’s plenty of inspiration if you’re planning your Christmas decor. In the Kings Hall, five gold rings are suspended from the ceiling, and two huge Christmas trees dominate the hall. Look behind you, and the sunshine (yes, we were lucky to get sunshine in November) streams through a stained glass window over a mezzanine balcony.

In the Billiards Room, seven-swans-are-swimming on a beautiful glass mirror lake, lit from above with frosty blue tones. At the opposite end of the room, the most stunning table setting, in fifty shades of pink. This was my favourite room by far.

Every inch of the castle follows the traditional 12 Days of Christmas theme, whilst still allowing its own history and collections to shine. Staircases are draped with holly and velvet bows. Windows look out onto the village of Bamburgh or onto the North Sea, framed with LED candles and family photographs of the current castle residents . The armoury and the kitchen have been given a festive twist, with the latter featuring a Christmas platter ready to be served. A (fake) roast pig with an apple in it’s mouth looks good enough to eat.

Designed by award-winning theatrical designed Charlotte Lloyd Webber, it’s a perfect winter wonderland if you’re in the North East area.

The castle is open from 10am until 4pm everyday apart from Christmas Day and Boxing Day. 12 Days of Christmas is running until Sunday 8th January. Adult tickets are £15.50 and can be purchased online or on the gate; the 12 Days of Christmas at Bamburgh is included in the normal admission fee. Under 16 tickets are £7.65, and under 4s go free. Doggos are welcome in the castle grounds, but not in the state rooms. The beach and external grounds can be accessed without a ticket.

There’s an onsite cafe and a takeaway coffee bar where we indulged in a luxury hot chocolate with a mince pie slice. The gift shop is perfect for picking up souvenirs – or for doing a spot of Christmas present shopping. There’s a great selection of local alcoholic beverages too. A bottle of gin may have fell into my basket. Along with a bottle of rum. And a bottle of mead. We also purchased a souvenir Bamburgh Castle tote bag so we could carry our stash.

Feeling Festive? Save Christmas at Bamburgh Castle for later!