The North East plays home to some truly unique venues although perhaps none are as historic as Lumley Castle Hotel.
Wrapped in acres of leafy parkland, this 14th Century Castle has been beautifully preserved and cuts an imposing figure amongst the rolling hillsides that make up County Durham. Onsite, it’s all fortified turrets, manicured lawns and clandestine courtyards an atmosphere fit for a princess you might say. With this in mind, I rounded up my Wife Lisa (ever the damsel in distress) for a fairytale weekend away!
Impressively renovated, Lumley Castle boasts 73 guest rooms which are divided over 3 different locations namely; castle, courtyard and the castle mews. We were lucky enough to bag a much coveted bedroom in the heart of the castle although admittedly the other two areas aren’t too shabby either. Decked out in a grand, baronial style, the bedrooms are in keeping with the rich history of the place and ours came complete with a tasselled 4-poster bed, regency wallpaper and other elaborate furnishings alongside a range of amenities including flat screen TVs, digital radios and complimentary internet access. A neat fusion then of the modern and the medieval.
In fact, the whole set up pays homage to the heritage of the castle. There’s nooks, crannies, suits of armour and we were even checked in by a receptionist in full medieval dress! Lisa pounced on the opportunity and quipped about finding even more outdated numbers in my current wardrobe. Someone’s staying in the dungeon next time!
With County Durham on the doorstep, Lumley offers a great base camp from which to explore all it has to offer. Riverside walks, Beamish Museum and Durham City Centre are to name but a few of the nearby attractions and that’s not to mention Chester Le-Street Golf Club which directly neighbours the hotel. Though, being a bitingly cold Winter’s day, we instead elected to remain within the confines of the battlements and took afternoon tea in the cosy library bar. This was followed by a quick snooze and a shower before our evening meal.
Renowned for its longstanding association with good food, the Hotel’s “Black Knight Restaurant” is popular with both guests and non-guests alike and it’s easy to see why. Their á la carte menu is traditionally British in essence yet is also characterised by a few exotic twists. We dillied and dallied for some time before deciding on starters of Confit of Belly Pork and Smoked Trout Mousseline. These most agreeable openers were then followed up by the Roast Pheasant Breast with wild mushroom meat loaf and the “Lumley Beef Fillet” a signature dish consisting of fillet steak wrapped in parma ham and stuffed with blue cheese. Naturally all of this was washed down with a goblet or two of the Cabernet Sauvignon.
Despite Lumley’s widely held reputation as a “Haunted House”, there was to be no apparitions this time and we both enjoyed an undisturbed nights sleep. A cooked breakfast the following morning set us up for the journey home although it was with some reluctance that we peeled ourselves away. I would thoroughly recommend to anyone unacquainted with the charms of Lumley Castle; fabulous food, unique bedrooms and not a poltergeist in sight!
