Bamburgh Castle Bamburgh Castle is located on the coast at Bamburgh in Northumberland , England . It is a Grade I listed building . History . Built on a dolerite outcrop , the location was previously home to a fort of the native Britons known as " Din Guarie " and may have been the capital of the British kingdom of the region ( see Gododdin , Bryneich and Hen Ogledd ) from the realm ' s foundation in c . 420 until 547 , the year of the first written reference to the castle . In that year the citadel was captured by the Anglo - Saxon ruler Ida of Bernicia ( Beornice ) and became Ida ' s seat . It was briefly retaken by the Britons from his son Hussa during the war of 590 before being relieved later the same year . His grandson Æðelfriþ passed it on to his wife Bebba , from whom the early name " Bebbanburgh " was derived . The Vikings destroyed the original fortification in 993 . The Normans built a new castle on the site , which forms the core of the present one . William II unsuccessfully besieged it in 1095 during a revolt supported by its owner , Robert de Mowbray , Earl of Northumbria . After Robert was captured , his wife continued the defence until coerced to surrender by the king ' s threat to blind her husband . Bamburgh then became the property of the reigning English monarch . Henry II probably built the keep . As an important English outpost , the castle was the target of occasional raids from Scotland . In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses , it became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery , at the end of a nine - month siege by Richard Neville , 16th Earl of Warwick . The Forster family of Northumberland provided the Crown with twelve successive governors of the castle for some 400 years until the Crown granted ownership to Sir John Forster . The family retained ownership until Sir William Forster ( d . 1700 ) was posthumously declared bankrupt , and his estates , including the castle , were sold to Lord Crew , Bishop of Durham ( husband of his sister Dorothy ) under an Act of Parliament to settle the debts . The castle deteriorated but was restored by various owners during the 18th and 19th centuries . It was finally bought by the Victorian industrialist William Armstrong , who completed the restoration . During the Second World War , the Royal Navy corvette HMS " Bamborough Castle " was named after it . The castle still belongs to the Armstrong family , and is opened to the public . It also hosts weddings and corporate events . It has been used as a film location since the 1920s , featuring in films such as " Ivanhoe " ( 1952 ) , " El Cid " ( 1961 ) , " Mary , Queen of Scots " ( 1971 ) , and " Elizabeth " ( 1998 ) . Vicinity features . About to the south on a point of coastal land is the ancient fortress of Dunstanburgh Castle and about to the north is Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island . Environmental factors . Air quality levels at Bamburgh Castle are excellent due to the absence of industrial sources in the region . Sound levels near the north - south road passing by Bamburgh Castle are in the range of 59 to 63 dBA in the daytime ( " Northumberland Sound Mapping Study " , Northumberland , England , June 2003 ) . Nearby are breeding colonies of Arctic and common terns on the inner Farne Islands , and of Atlantic puffin , shag and razorbill on Staple Island . Archaeology at Bamburgh . Since 1996 , the Bamburgh Research Project has been investigating the archaeology and history of the Castle and Bamburgh area . The project has concentrated on the fortress site and the early medieval burial ground at the Bowl Hole , to the south of the castle . Archaeological excavations were started in the 1960s by Dr . Brian Hope - Taylor , who discovered the gold plaque known as the Bamburgh Beast as well as the Bamburgh Sword . The project runs a training dig for 10 weeks every summer for students to learn more about archaeological techniques and to further research into the Castle . Armstrong and Aviation Artefacts Museum . The castle ' s laundry rooms feature the Armstrong and Aviation Artefacts Museum , with exhibits about Victorian industrialist William Armstrong and Armstrong Whitworth , the manufacturing company he founded . Displays include engines , artillery and weaponry , and aviation artefacts from two world wars .