Alnwick, The Castle And River Aln c.1955
Photo ref: A223014
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Photo ref: A223014
Photo of Alnwick, The Castle And River Aln c.1955

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One of the five great fortresses of Northumberland, Alnwick fell into ruins owing in part to the fate of the Percy family and the destruction wreaked by Cromwell's troops. On the death of the eleventh Earl in 1670 the earldom became extinct. An 18th- century female descendant of the last earl married Sir Hugh Smithson, who changed his name to Percy and was created Earl of Northumberland in 1750 and first Duke of Northumberland in 1766. It was this Hugh Percy who set about restoring Alnwick to its former glory, commissioning Robert Adam to supervise the decoration and Capability Brown to lay out the grounds. Further alterations and rebuilding was carried out during the 19th century.

An extract from Northumberland Tyne and Wear Photographic Memories.

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Northumberland Tyne and Wear Photographic Memories

Northumberland Tyne and Wear Photographic Memories

The photo 'Alnwick, the Castle and River Aln c1955' appears in this book.

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A Selection of Memories from Alnwick

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Alnwick

Sparked a Memory for you?

If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?

I spent my national service 1955/1956 in nearby RAF BOULMER and though many years have passed since i still recall very happy memories of days and nights in Alnwick and of the people there who were some of the nicest friendly people i have ever met before or since.My most vivid memories, seeing i was only 18years old at the time,were of the numerous amount of pubs that could be frequented and i can also bring to mind ...see more
Hi, I used to travel via the great north road in the 1960s to near Durham, I can remember going through the arch above lots of times it was very narrow and you had to watch your car you could not speed then. Alnwick is a nice place and relatives of mine come from nearby lesbury, it definately made the difference when the by-pass was built it must have been a relief for the place.
The above picture was from 1948, I can tell this by the types of cars here, especially the light coloured one half hidden in the background, which actually is the most modern for this year.
Great-Uncle John Percy Norfolk married Hilda Sanderson Campain and she had family connections in Alnwick. They had no children and I have thus inherited a fascinating assortment of their old sepia photographs of Alnwick and their family there, taken in about 1915.