We all love this venue for a family day out / afternoon out! Very relaxed, lots of space for the kids to run around and the Tower / Tunnels are always fun The shop / toilets / venue are all well looked after so money well spent. Great for a picnic if the weather is right
Rare
I don't think that the castle is worth the cost of driving into the park! It's extortionate the cost just to drive through!! It's not like your going on some crazy adventure! You drive a mile and park up in the car park. Then pay for a drink and food if you wish. And that's also expensive. The people on the gate who takes your money is a snotty old fart with attitude! Who obviously hates his job. Apart from that it's not a bad place for older people, but definitely not for kids as mine were bored as hell.
Great place to visit. The staff are friendly, knowledgeable and informative.
Very historic, dainty castle. Lovely place to visit on a day out, however, doesn't take long to go around. The castle is very well looked after.
Nice wander around the ruins with the chance to explore old tunnel and stairways in the old castle. Good interpretation provided of how the castle was used previously.
Great views from the top and a brilliant tunnel to explore.
It must have been such a wonderful place in it's day. Great today
An English Heritage venue, so money saved if you're a member :-) A ruined and accessable castle not far from the centre of the town. You can't park on site, so do park in town (or just down from the castle in the Pay & Display) and walk in. There's the obligatory English Heritage visitors centre / gift shop. If you visit during the school holidays, there's often a treature trail or an actor on site, pretending to be someone from the castle's past. The castle, although ruined, can be climbed and there's a great view of the top. There's occasional glimpses out of barred windows, just to give you a touch of the fear, if you're not great with heights. There's also a tunnel which runs between the tower and the old kitchens. [ Hint: if you want to grab something to eat, there's a few local pubs in town, that do very nice meals and are kid & dog friendly ]
Tis a castle in a field. One of the smaller English Heritage sites and as such suffers from a lower budget than equal sized sites such as coinsborough. No on-site parking (except blue badge holders).
An amazing ruin of an ancient castle. Ideal to take children as it is completely enclosed.
Interesting ruins with quirky audio guide. Tunnel is interesting - we only went part way as it had water in, would like to do it when it's dry. . 98 strenuous steps to top of the tower to heave fab views. Some interesting fire places. White dove in residence in one of the alcoves - Shame it was camera shy
A small but wonderful caste to visit. It's not Warwick or Windsor but it's full of character and steeped in history - obviously given its age. I used to visit as a child but still like to go as as an adult
Great old castle - still standing tall even if a battered around the edges, its a bit like a ship in time - its sailed through its own historic storms
Interesting castle, fascinating history, towers and tunnels for the kids. English Heritage run. Great to visit along with the rest of the town which is a lovely market town with lots of great pubs, restaurants and unique local shops.
We once went public roads around and saw it from afar. The way to the castle was full of puddles so you did not get closer to dry feet.
Very pleasant trip, however I don't think children under 12 should pay
Small but interesting, lived in Leicestershire for over 20 years and finally got there.
Thus was the first time I was able to walk all around the ruins. I have seen it from the road but up close. Due to the Covid19 I book a date and time slot, however, there was no refreshments and the audio tour was not available and my phone would not pick up the audio information. It was a dry day but it only took me an hour and a half to walk round so I walked up to the local church St.Helens to get some additional images. Shame there was no reenacting or living history or a bird of prey display
Wonderful to visit, knowledgeable friendly staff and really easy to imagine how things were thanks to the helpful information boards
One hour attraction. Make sense to combine with some other activities
Love it, as does my son , not too expensive, informative and interesting, full of atmosphere, brilliant re enactments sometimes.
Wonderful ruins, great Medieval show! Situated in a lovely village! Recommend to anyone who loves a day out in the countryside
Good castle well worth a visitif you are in the area good small shop selling all the normal books, fridge magnets, drinks ect the tower requires good footwear and a head for heights and the tunnel can be very wet so sensible footwear is a must all the normal information boards are around the site along with the use of an audio tour and a site map if needed english heritage always on had to answer any questions you may have this location also has a toilet so top marks parking is near the entrance and is a public are cark costing 80p for two hours so no complants there is a disable car park next to the castle entrance which is small and down a muddy track.
Pleasant market town . With mostly small independent shops
Good for visiting ... Not very much to see but it worth for landscape... you have opportunity to see the village from top of one of the tower..:d
A lovely ruined castle site. Apart from a small shop hut it is all out doors and a great space for the children to run around. Take the time to enjoy the audio tour, it's very amusingly acted out!
Came with our 3 children for the afternoon, really enjoyed themselves, especially the tunnel to the cellars! Spookily awesome!
Really nice, only issue is that there is not a large window of time to visit
Lovely castle mentioned in Ivanhoe and if visiting you must go up the tower and down the tunnel.
An interesting but smaller castle which took 2 to 3 hours to look round. Good views from up the tower but it's 93 steps and quite a climb. There is a tunnel under part of the castle as well. English heritage staff helpful as usual and there is a good free audio guide that tells you about the castle history.
Closed despite EH phoneline saying it would be open.
I have so many fond memories of the place from childhood. Recently went back and it's still a brilliant castle. English Heritage haven't completely ruined it..
A most enjoyable afternoon the grand children loved it the lady's in the office werd
Great place to spend a couple of hours. Clean, tidy and well preserved. The audio tour was a little verbose although slightly amusing but the views at the top were worth the trip. Bring your camera!
The parking is only free if your members i would definitely reccomend it
Lovely old castle with a tunnel to explore and a tower to climb giving beautiful views of the surrounding area. Parking can be difficult and no shelter for rainy days but a nice piece of history to look at. Well worth a trip.
A good half day out. A pleasant walk around the grounds. Audio guide in 'horrible histories' style so a bit basic.
Impressive site all the more so for being hidden. Murder mystery event while we were there
Really loved this castle. Pro baby one of my favourites. Lots of building left, but enough missing to let you imagine how it once was. And the guide book is excellent!
Great little castle. Magnificent views from the top of the tower.
Great castle, parking could be a dilemma but a brilliant castle with a 92 step tower to climb and a servants tunnel...this is one of the most exciting castles without events
Very interesting ruin. Excellent free audio guide. It's good that there is a tower to climb.
It was lord abney-hastings. But it makes me heart swell with pride to see something my ancestor built. Alot of my familys blood lays there.
A very interesting castle with a bit of civil war history.
This is a lovely place to just potter round at your own pace whilst taking in the significant history there. Our children love going because they can freely wander around and explore what's left of the castle and run around safely to burn off energy. It's one of those places where we just pop down the road to if we've got a couple of hours to kill. It's also an interesting trip out for history buffs. The fact that it has a big story to tell from the Civil War gives you plenty of opportunity to learn about this period of our history.
