Langley Castle Invokes Origins of the Great Sunday Lunch

A Sunday roast can be delicious anywhere but there are few places in the north that can serve it up in as authentic a historical context as Langley Castle, near Haydon Bridge, where Sunday roasts have ‘come home’ in 2024, for residents and non-residents alike.

The reinstatement of Sunday lunches at the castle will bring joy to many local families.  It will also give history-loving travellers – both British staycationers and international visitors – the perfect opportunity to tuck into a meal in as medieval a setting as the Sunday roast itself.

Langley Castle boasts extraordinary levels of medieval authenticity, with some of its features dating from 1350, when the castle was first built by Thomas de Lucy.  The origins of the Sunday roast are said to be found during Henry VII’s reign (1485-1509).  His guards were called ‘Beefeaters’, because they enjoyed hearty meat feasts when with the king.  With this tradition already well-established by then, it’s perfectly possible to imagine the De Lucys carving their roast, within their magnificent castle walls, back in the late 14th century.

The Sunday roast was also embraced by villagers, who could enjoy spit-roasted meats, cooked over huge open fires, if they performed well in Sunday battle practices.  Again, in the villages around Langley Castle, this was probably common.

The Sunday roast practice was transformed when large communal ovens allowed lower classes to roast their meats in communal bread ovens on the one day of the week when bread was not baked and whilst they went to church.  Post-industrial revolution, those with their own ovens would do exactly the same; leaving meat in the oven during religious devotions.

Langley Castle stays true to tradition by having roasted sirloin of beef as its centrepiece on the main course of its three-course menu.  What has changed, since medieval times, is the inclusion of other options alongside roasted meat, namely baked fillet of cod and a ricotta and spinach ravioli for vegetarians.  Eating only vegetables or grains was not a lifestyle choice in medieval times, merely  the consequence of demographics and one’s place in society.

Common fishes to be eaten in the De Lucys’ time would have been fresh salmon, eels, pike and herring, but a more luxurious hot and cold smoked salmon can today be found amongst Langley’s Sunday lunch starters choices. 

Medieval folk would also not have enjoyed Yorkshire puddings, which only emerged in the late 1700s, with their batter mixture often benefiting from the ‘drippings’ of juices of meat cooked on spits in front of a fire. 

Most certainly, they would not have relished delights such as Langley’s honey and ginger cheesecake, with spices not arriving until trading vessels sailed around the globe.  Similarly, there was no decadent sticky toffee pudding back then!

“We obviously don’t just serve up a true medieval Sunday lunch menu, because expectations have changed,” says Langley Castle’s Food and Beverage Manager, Aiden Mcguinness.  “In medieval times it was purely about the roasted meat.   Nowadays, we want to balance that with other savoury and sweet dishes.  

“Many of our Sunday lunch guests do stick to traditional roast beef, vegetables, potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. However, as true to Sunday lunch traditions as we try to be, what we do not do is serve up Yorkshire pudding as a starter, as in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Then, it was a skimping strategy: a means to fill people up and help the meat go further!

“What our guests particularly adore is that our Josephine restaurant, housed in what was once the castle’s stables, provides such great sense of place for our traditional English Sunday feast and delivers not just food but an experience.  Sitting within our seven-feet-thick walls and seeing the original medieval doorways, arches and other features, allows all of our diners to not just be treated to great food but also feel rather like a medieval lord or lady.  Little wonder our North American guests can’t get enough of the experience!”

Whilst once, the communal medieval Sunday roast would have been cooked by ‘spit boys’, painstakingly turning the meat over a fire, the Langley Castle 2AA-Rosette chefs team, under the leadership of head chef Craig Banks, have state-of-the-art equipment and plenty of modern-day inspiration.  If you wish to have a modern lunch, in a setting transporting you back to a Sunday lunch’s medieval roots, there is nowhere better.

Just head to https://www.langleycastle.co.uk to book or call 01434 688888.

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Editors notes

Langley Castle, built in 1350, is located in Langley-on-Tyne, Northumberland and is one of the few authentic, fortified medieval castles in England. It has a rich history, with strong links to Jacobite rebellions, is located just a stone's throw from the World Heritage Site of Hadrian's Wall and boasts features including battlements, seven-feet-thick walls, window seats set into the walls and the best example of medieval garderobes in Europe. It is one of the most exquisite wedding venues in the north and also offers a wide range of options when it comes to exclusive use, with the castle being available for weddings, family celebrations, Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs, D&D-style events and a wide variety of corporate functions.