Barnard Castle

Barnard Castle is an historic and thriving market town which originally grew up around a spot where the Roman road crossed the River Tees.

Perched on a rocky crag above the town is the castle that gives the town its name.  This 12th-century Norman Castle, occupying a strategic site overlooking the town, was built by Bernard 'Barnard' Baliol, ancestor of the founder of Balliol College, Oxford. The castle is now maintained by English Heritage and is open to the public.

Barnard Castle boasts some attractive and diverse architecture including some well-preserved 17th and 18th century houses and inns.  Charles Dickens stayed at the King's Head Inn whilst writing Nicholas Nickleby in 1838.

The County Bridge, built in 1569, crosses the River Tees just below the castle, and once formed the boundary between Yorkshire and County Durham.

On the edge of Barnard Castle is the Bowes Museum, built in the style of a stunning French chateau by the industrialist John Bowes.  It houses a collection of decorative and fine art collections of national importance including paintings by Goya, El Greco and Canaletto.  The museum also contains archaeology and local history galleries, as well as collections of costumes, textiles and ceramics.

Also nearby is Egglestone Abbey which stands on a beautiful spot on a rise above the River Tees.  The Abbey was founded by the White Canons, a sect who lived a very strict and severe life.  They were ejected in the Elizabethan era and the new owner made part of the cloisters into a  house.