Northumberland Castle Prepares to Make Fairy Tales Come True

England’s true fairy-tale castle – the one brimming with authentic features that can truly fire up a child’s imagination – is preparing for the arrival of a new cohort of young princesses and keen young knights in 2025.

Langley Castle, located just a stone’s throw from Hadrian’s Wall, was built as a home for its first ‘princesses’ in 1350.  In truth, the females of the household back then were actually just well-respected members of the fairer sex, with the head of the home being one of Edward III’s most trusted knights, Thomas de Lucy.

Thomas did, however, make his second wife, following the death of his first, a cousin of the king’s and, as history progressed, other cousin-natured royal connections prevailed.  

Literary royalty, in the shape of J K Rowling, visited in more recent times and the similarities between what young princes and princesses will find at Langley Castle, and what they may read about in her books, are remarkable.  

The great shame behind all of this is that a third (33%) of those who answered a Langley Castle independently commissioned research survey said that their child or grandchild had never had the opportunity to play princess or prince or knight during a castle hotel stay.

If they have, it is likely the castle may not have been all that ‘real’.  It may not have had battlements to gaze from.  It perhaps did not have an underground tunnel leading from the cupboard under the stairs that goes who knows where.  It may not have retained the spiral staircase, specially designed to thwart any invaders who could not wield their sword in their left hand.  The hole through which boiling water or oil would have been poured on those invaders may well have been long gone.  And, there certainly wouldn’t have been 12 garderobes to admire, reminding young imaginations that this was a castle built to be under siege for extensive periods.

With a chapel on the battlements, four-poster beds, raised window seats set into seven-feet thick walls and lots of knights in shining armour all around, this is a castle that can set young imaginations alight.  Arriving, unpacking the suitcase and reaching instantly for the princess dress is a must, unless it’s a plastic sword the youngster wants to grab, or even a lightsaber!

“Langley Castle has all that a parent could wish for, if they want to provide their children with an extraordinary experience and entrée into a true land of make-believe,” says general manager, Mohamed Serag.  “My own children were mesmerised when they first saw the castle and that same awestruck look appears on the faces of even much older princes and princesses who arrive here and sweep up our spectacular drive to the castle’s door.”

In the case of adults, the princess dream can still be lived.  Langley’s survey, commissioned through Censuswide, found that 29% of British adults have never slept in a four-poster bed and 42% have never stayed in a true medieval castle hotel.  Those that have, may well be the many hundreds of eloping couples who have enjoyed weddings for two at Langley Castle and fully lived the fairy-tale dream, or those who have had the means to enjoy much larger fairy-tale weddings here, from the classic to the grand Indian occasion.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, not to mention half-term, there is every opportunity for Langley Castle to create a few honorary princes and princesses in the coming weeks.  The awareness day of National Tell a Fairy Tale Day takes place on February 26.  There’s time for a fair few lucky kids to have a great fairy-tale experience to relate by then, if their parents decide there’s no replacement for a step into a fantasy world.

But fairy-tale stays are not just for February!  Head to www.langleycastle.co.uk to find the accommodation experience or day-time drop-in opportunity, be that a meal or afternoon tea, that will provide that for your young royalty in 2025.

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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.