A Tour of the Castle:-
Guided tours start at the Castle Front doors on the hour from 11.00am to 3.00pm and take approximately 1hr 15mins to circulate the seven rooms that are on display.
The castle and gardens are open to the public all year round and make a really interesting and entertaining day out. There is ample free parking in the very pleasant car park at the southern edge of the village, and from there it is a very short walk through the market square to the castle entrance, which can be found in the Castle Gift Shop. Toilet facilities (including disabled and baby changing) are available at the car park and at the Gift Shop on arrival.
We have gone to a lot of trouble to ensure that the tours are as interesting for children as they are for adults.
All our guides have a well-developed sense of humour: they need it, working here! In the Dining Room you will see the portraits of recent generations of the Ingilby family and of the five lucky children who live in the castle today. The Round Drawing Room features a set of beautifully embroidered Chippendale style chairs and settees and for the best views of the lakes and parkland, look out of any of the windows in the Large Drawing Room.
The guide will tell you how one Sir John Ingilby lost his dogs while touring Europe, and another rebuilt a large part of the castle but lost his wife.
The Library is the first room in the Tudor tower or keep, and it was here that 'Trooper' Jane Ingilby held Oliver Cromwell at gunpoint. You will be able to look at the 17th century recipe book written by Elizabeth Eden, the castle's Head Housekeeper in the 1680's. You will hear how Sir William nearly got disinherited after losing the family's fortune to the rebels. Poor Sir William: he was so ugly that he had to use a dating agency in order to find a wife!
The Tower Room features a fine ceiling, erected in just four days prior to a visit by king James I. The floor started life as the deck of a British man o'war. You will learn how the Ingilbys found themselves heavily implicated in the Gunpowder Plot to kill the king and blow up Parliament, and how they only escaped when the trial collapsed.
The final room of the tour, the Knight's Chamber, is also the most spectacular. Here you willsee the remarkable 16th Century oak ceiling and panelling and the priest's secret hiding hole, discovered purely by chance in 1964. This room also contains a remarkable collection of arms and armour, collected from both sides of the English civil war battlefield.
On exceptionally busy days guided tours may give way to room attendants, but the 40 page illustrated guide book is very clearly written and will make sure that you don't miss anything. Once you have seen the castle you can wander out into the gardens and grounds (see 'Castle Gardens') or go for a cup of tea in the Castle Tearooms.
To discover more about some of the many other great stately homes, castles, gardens and abbeys that you can visit in Yorkshire, visit: www.castlesandgardens.co.uk
www.yorkshirevisitor.com, the official site of the Yorkshire Tourist Board, provides useful information about other visitor attractions, events and accommodation in the region.
To learn more about Britain's many castles visit www.castles-of-britain.com