Dominating a bend of the river Coquet, in Northumberland, Warkworth Castle is famous for its extraordinary cruciform keep. A great fortress of the Percys, Earls of Northumberland, it declined under the Tudors with the power of this family — and entered literature thanks to Shakespeare.
The keep of the Percys
Warkworth was one of the great strongholds of the Percys, Earls of Northumberland, the most powerful family of the northern border. Its jewel is its cruciform keep (in the shape of a Greek cross), built in the late fourteenth century — a masterpiece of military architecture, at once a residence of prestige and a fortress. The Percys reigned here as near-sovereigns of the North, guardians of the Scottish border, at the head of vast domains and powerful feudal affinities.
The decline with the Percy house
Under the Tudors, Warkworth declined with the fortune of the Percys. Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, joined the Catholic Rising of the North of 1569; after his execution in 1572, the castle was plundered and decayed. In 1617, James I found it in ruin. Warkworth thus illustrates the fall of the great feudal lords of the North, broken by their loyalty to the old faith and by the centralisation of Tudor power. The castle owes part of its fame to Shakespeare, who sets there scenes of Henry IV (parts 1 and 2), staging Harry 'Hotspur' Percy, a fiery figure of rebellion against the Crown — a literary echo of the real Percy revolts. To see: the late-fourteenth-century cruciform keep, the great hall and chapel, the curtain walls and gatehouse, the position dominating a bend of the Coquet.
Did you know?
Shakespeare made Warkworth a stage setting: it is there that he sets, in Henry IV, the scenes where Harry Percy called 'Hotspur', hot-blooded and impetuous, prepares his revolt against the king. This character, one of the playwright's most alive, was inspired by a real fifteenth-century Percy — but his rebellious spirit also foreshadowed the real revolts that, under the Tudors, definitively lost the house of Northumberland.
Notes
Warkworth Castle lies at Warkworth, Northumberland; a castle run by English Heritage, open to the public. Seasonal hours to check.
Quiz
- Which family held Warkworth?
- The Percys, Earls of Northumberland
- The Nevilles
- The Greys
- What is exceptional about its keep?
- Its cruciform (cross-shaped) plan
- It is round
- It is of wood
- Which Shakespeare character is linked to Warkworth?
- Harry 'Hotspur' Percy (Henry IV)
- Hamlet
- Macbeth