The Norman Chapel
The castle's oldest surviving part, from about 1078, whose six carved capitals include a mermaid often said to be among the earliest in England.
Carla Brain — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Benjamin Smith — CC BY-SA 4.0
More than a hundred undergraduates sleep every night inside a Norman castle begun in 1072 on William the Conqueror's orders, which makes Durham Castle a rarity among Britain's fortresses: neither a mothballed museum nor a ruin, but a working college since 1837, a few years after the last of the Prince-Bishops, William Van Mildert, handed his palace to the university he had just founded. For nearly eight centuries before that it housed rulers who held both spiritual and temporal power, and together with the cathedral facing it across Palace Green it forms a single site inscribed by UNESCO in 1986. Because it is a college, the only way in is a guided tour of around 50 to 60 minutes, £7.50 for adults and free for under-16s. It starts at the 12th-century gatehouse and the courtyard, where the ground falls away towards the river on two sides, then moves through the Great Hall raised by Bishop Antony Bek in the early 14th century and still used as the students' dining hall, the mid-16th-century Tunstall Chapel with its oddly carved misericords, the 17th-century timber Black Staircase, and finally the Norman Chapel of about 1078, the oldest surviving part, where a carved mermaid is often said to be among the earliest in England. A light-and-sound projection now runs inside that chapel as part of the tour; it uses moving images, loud sound, sudden changes of lighting and some mildly violent imagery, and anyone who would rather not see it can opt out. The essential caveat: tour times are released only a month ahead, and they stop on graduation days, during exams and for conferences, sometimes at short notice. In July and August tours sell out early, so book online before you travel and, ideally, phone on the day. The route is all worn stone steps and narrow passages with no lift anywhere in the castle, and there is no taking a pushchair round it, so it is a poor fit for anyone who struggles with stairs. There is no parking at the castle; the nearest is the Prince Bishops shopping centre car park, a five- to ten-minute uphill walk, and from the railway station it is about fifteen minutes on foot or a ride on the Cathedral Bus, which stops opposite Palace Green Library. The honest verdict: the cathedral two minutes away is the real star of the hill, and if time is short or the tour is cancelled, the castle's facade and Palace Green are free, always open and enough for photographs. The tour itself earns its hour if you enjoy history and the quirks of college life, and it is effectively the only way to see the Norman Chapel.
The castle's oldest surviving part, from about 1078, whose six carved capitals include a mermaid often said to be among the earliest in England.
Raised by Bishop Antony Bek in the early 14th century and still the students' dining hall, fourteen metres high and over thirty metres long.
A mid-16th-century chapel with misericords carved with beasts and fables, reached along a gallery built so the bishop need not cross the courtyard and later filled with artefacts the bishops collected.
Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RW
Durham CathedralLook up in the nave and you are looking at an experiment that worked. Around nin2 minutes walk
Elvet BridgeTwo chapels once stood on this bridge, and one of them ended up as a prison. Tha2 minutes walk
Oriental MuseumA single Babylonian brick stamped with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, dug out of th16 minutes walk
Durham University Botanic GardenIn a small glasshouse on a hill south of Durham, children press a button and rea20 minutes walkChoose the cathedral without hesitation: it is the greater monument, free, and open daily with no booking, whereas the castle can only be seen on a tour that may not even be running on your day. The castle suits anyone with a spare hour and a taste for history, and its facade from Palace Green is free regardless.
Under-16s go free, but there is no lift and no room for a pushchair on an hour of worn stone stairs and narrow passages; with a child carried or aged seven and up it works, while with a baby and a pushchair parents are better off taking turns or settling for Palace Green outside. Note too that the Norman Chapel projection has loud sound and changing light that can startle small children, and it can be skipped.