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Celebrate Roman Britain from a Castle With Wall to Wall History
What could be cooler than celebrating the 1900th birthday of Hadrian’s Wall in an authentic medieval castle, constructed with stones hauled from the famous Wall, thanks to the recycling mentality of medieval builders?
This is what families, couples and individuals can do this year, if they head to Langley Castle in Langley-on-Tyne, Northumberland. There, the seven-feet-thick walls are said to have been built using parts of the 73-mile-long Hadrian’s Wall, which back then had no preservation order slapped on it!
With so much going on around Hadrian’s Wall in 2022, Langley Castle is the perfect base for your enjoyment of Roman culture. Located just a short drive from Hadrian’s Wall – a landscape feature viewable in the distance from the castle’s top during a daily Battlements Tour – you can hop to and from different Wall locations as you please, returning for a fabulous dinner, luxurious night’s sleep or even glorious afternoon tea if you get back early.
Three of the main locations for 2022 events along Hadrian’s Wall – Chesters Roman Fort, Corbridge Roman Town and Vindolanda – are just a 14-17 minute drive away from Langley Castle. Also close at hand (18 minutes) is the iconic Sycamore Gap, as pictured in Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood adventures, whilst Housesteads Fort is 15 minutes away and Cawfields quarry, from where you can gain a great view of the infamous Vallum ditch on the landscape and see the remains of a Roman milecastle, is just a 19-minute drive. Many other Roman places are just a stone’s throw away.
To bring all of this Roman history to life, you can book a ‘Roaming with the Romans’ tour right from Langley Castle’s door, enjoying whatever duration of tour suits you best, in the company of costumed historical interpreters from tour company, Ancient Britain. Handling helmets and weaponry, feeling the weight of chain mail and hearing what the Romans and Celts would have for their supper will make you even hungrier to explore Roman history.
And, if your love of history then knows no bounds, you can top it up with the story of Langley Castle’s own extraordinary past, using the free download ‘Hairy History’, to be found in the History for Kids section at www.langleycastle.co.uk
Choose to stay in one of 9 rooms inside Langley Castle’s amazing walls, where you may have a four-poster bed on which to rest your head, or a contemporary feature such as a whirlpool bath or sauna, or go for more relaxed accommodation in the converted stable block, Castle View. Either way, you can enjoy a sumptuous Northumbrian breakfast each morning and can choose to dine in either the 2AA Josephine restaurant or the drawing room, with its shining chandeliers, amazing raised window seats and roaring log fire.
Rooms inside the castle are graded as either Feature or Deluxe, whilst the Castle View accommodation ranges from ‘standard’ to ‘suites’. Castle Lodge is another option, if you fancy even more privacy and your own little haven in the grounds.
When not exploring Roman history, you can wander the 10-acre grounds at Langley, rustling through the woodlands or strolling the manicured lawns.
Stays cost from £95.00 per person, per night in Castle View and from £150.00 pppn in the castle, inclusive of Northumbrian breakfast. Head to www.langleycastle.co.uk to book. ENDS
Press calls: Jane Hunt, Catapult PR, 01253 446925 – jane@catapultpr.co.uk
Notes to Editors
1. Roaming with the Romans tours can be booked by contacting Ancient Britain https://www.ancientbritain.org The experiences range from two-hour tours, to full day extravaganzas. Tours start at a price of £30 per person and children have a discount of 25%.
2. Some events taking place this year are:
Hail Hadrian – Chesters Fort – 23-24 July, 2022.
Blockbuster series event allowing you to experience Roman life through re-enactments, Roman artillery, archery and cavalry shows. Go to sword school, visit the armour tent and try to become a Roman soldier.
Roman Falconry at Chesters Fort – July 26 & 27 and August 13 & 14
Discover why birds were so important to the Roman belief system and see some birds of prey up close.
Night Attack, Chesters Fort – August 27 and 28
See a dramatic re-enaction of a night attack at Chesters Fort, in this truly immersive experience.
Vindolanda Excavations - March 28 – September 23
See live excavations taking place at Roman Vindolanda, talk to the archaeologists, learn more and watch as artefacts emerge from the ground.
Vindolanda, Romans Return - August 27-28
The Ermine Street Guard will celebrate its 50th anniversary at Vindolanda with dramatic military displays, a Roman camp and Roman soldier school.
Festival of Saturnalia, various Wall locations – December 17 to 23
See towns and villages celebrating the Roman festival of Saturnalia in their own tribute to Hadrian’s Wall
3. Corbridge Roman Town
Corbridge Roman Town features the remains of a Roman garrison and is the only place in Britain where you can walk along the original surface of a Roman high street, flanked by the excavated remains of granaries, a fountain, Roman markets, workshops and temples. You can also head into the museum and see the famous Corbridge Hoard, one of the most significant Roman finds in Britain, including weapons, personal possessions and armour. Don’t forget to seek out the famous Corbridge lion carving.
4. Vindolanda and the Roman Army Museum
These two attractions can be visited for the price of one ticket and offer the opportunity to see some of the most exciting Roman finds in Britain, including the Vindolanda Tablets, ‘postcards’ from Roman times, voted Britain’s Top Treasure. Additionally, there is a special exhibition this year, due to a temporary loan of some of the most sensationally well-preserved Roman army equipment form private collection. This includes copper-alloy infantry and cavalry cheek pieces, a face mask and helmet visor, statuettes of the Roman God of War, Mars, and a complete copper alloy helmet with the owner’s name inscribed on it, dating from the 1st Century AD.
Enjoy an English Castle ‘Lord and Lady’ Christmas Experience
An Englishman’s home is his castle but why not swap your domestic abode for a real castle this Christmas and enjoy the festive season in true lord or lady style and a manner to which you could become accustomed?
A festive luxury break in a truly authentic castle – with real fortification features dating from centuries ago – will add a spine-tingling backdrop to the turkey and trimmings treat and few castles can deliver on authenticity like Langley Castle in Northumberland.
The 671-year-old castle has everything you could desire to make Christmas a spellbinding experience and will be going all out to help guests end their year with joy and cheer.
Just decide where you would like to be holed-up in this incredible bolthole – inside the incredible 14th century castle walls, in a four-poster or period bed and enjoying unique features such as the castle’s romantic window seats, or in more contemporary, luxury Castle View accommodation in the renovated former stable block in the grounds.
You can then leave the rest to the hugely experienced Langley team, who will greet you with divine cocktails on December 24, guide you to the romantic, candlelit ‘Josephine’ dining room for dinner that evening, present a sumptuous Christmas lunch (and hot and cold buffet on Christmas Day too, if you have room) and rustle up hearty Northumbrian breakfasts on each morning of your stay.
If you linger for two nights (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), that’s the wonderful package you can enjoy, but stay an extra night on Boxing Day and there will be another chance to revel in dinner in the 2AA Rosette restaurant and also enjoy a full Northumbrian breakfast before departure on December 27. After all, Christmas calories don’t count!
The two-night festive package at Langley Castle costs between £424 and £499 per person, if staying in one of the various graded choices of Castle View accommodation, ranging from lodge to suite. Stay in a Deluxe room inside the castle and this package costs £549pp, whilst the festive stay spent curled up each night in the most luxurious rooms (Feature Rooms) costs £625pp.
If you stay for three nights, the pricing is: between £532 and £674; £774 and £824 per person, respectively.
Exploring Langley’s amazing interior, whilst strolling its 10-acre grounds and woodland areas, is a great way to find out more about its incredible history, or walk off the pud. A range of other local walks are available and those with a car can explore nearby treasures such as Hadrian’s Wall and medieval Hexham, or enjoy one of Britain’s most acclaimed drives, down the A686 to Alston direct from Langley’s door. If ‘Top Gear’ votes it the best, it must be good!
Otherwise, just chill out and spot squirrels in the grounds, say ‘hello’ to the resident peacocks and curl up in front of Langley’s roaring Drawing Room log fire with a book, hot chocolate or little tipple. Whatever you do, you will have a Christmas in Northumberland that will provide memories for a lifetime. Lord and lady-style grandeur awaits this Christmas.
Head to www.langleycastle.co.uk to see more or book by calling 01434 688888. ENDS
Press calls: Jane Hunt, Catapult PR, 01253 446925 – jane@catapultpr.co.uk
Soap Storyline Should Add to Castle’s Elopement Boom
A Northumbrian hotel has expressed delight at a soap opera picking up on one of 2022’s biggest wedding trends, but wishes Emmerdale soap characters, Liv and Vinny, had followed its free elopement guide’s advice.
Langley Castle, in Langley-on-Tyne, has seen a boom in direct enquiries for exquisite ‘weddings for two’ – a speciality at the fairy-tale, medieval castle - since creating its ‘How to Enjoy the Perfect UK Elopement’ guide. Couples have downloaded the guide and then desired an idyllic wedding, free from family and friends fuss.
The booklet covers every aspect of an ‘elopement’ wedding, including, most crucially, how to handle issues with aggrieved family and friends, upset not to be part of the wedding day.
It explains how to discuss the reasons for wanting an intimate wedding for two and how to share the wedding day with non-attending loved ones. Practical tips, fashion advice, notes on the legalities of an elopement wedding and suggestions of how to extend the loved-up feel to the elopement, by visiting the most romantic places in Northumberland, are all included.
For Liv and Vinny, such advice might have avoided the emotional turmoil now being experienced after not briefing family. Had they known about Langley Castle, they would also have found somewhere more special than a Town Hall for their nuptials.
It is easy to see why the 14th century fairy-tale castle is so popular with eloping couples. Its many romantic nooks and crannies, include gorgeous raised window seats in its drawing room and castle bedrooms, perfect for cuddles and we-time. Four-poster beds make things truly romantic, whilst the lovely 2AA Josephine’s dining room has tables set into alcoves where a couple can enjoy candlelit dining with lots of privacy.
Many eloping couples love to explore the 10-acre grounds, with both woodland and lawned areas and a woodland weddings area, which can be lit with fairylights and decorated with floral bouquets. This area often suits those not wanting a full-blown elopement wedding but a micro-wedding, with just a few key members of their family and friends in attendance.
A wedding for two is now a preferred lifestyle choice for many couples. It creates a very intense, special wedding day, focused solely on them and their love for each other. Rather than paying the average wedding cost of £32,000, couples pay a fraction of that and keep money in the piggy bank or rainy day fund. Both wedding and honeymoon can be rolled into one. It also avoids decisions over who to invite and who to exclude and dreaded family rows.
Above all, rather than being about other people, it is about those taking their vows. In a time when mindfulness has never been more in-vogue, it is a mindfulness-filled experience.
Langley Castle’s executive general manager, Margaret Livingstone-Evans, says: “We are delighted ‘Emmerdale’ has cast light on elopement weddings, as these can be truly incredible events when handled with expertise.
“Elopement weddings are soaring in popularity and we have over 30 years’ experience in staging them, so know exactly how to make them super-special, whether that is extraordinary photography on our magnificent battlements, or snuggling up in blankets in our summerhouse, on cooler days. We are sure the soap storyline will have planted a seed in many couples’ minds, despite the featured elopement not having the fairy-tale treatment. We are anticipating another wave of elopement wedding requests.”
Eloping is not just for soap characters or ordinary people, but also something celebrities have embraced, including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz and Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas.
With so much turmoil in the world and the economy getting harder and more unpredictable by the day, many more couples, famous and less so, are likely to be opting for a Langley Castle wedding for two this year.
To find out more, head to www.langleycastle.co.uk or download the elopement guide here
ENDS
Press calls: Jane Hunt, Catapult PR, 01253 446925 – jane@catapultpr.co.uk
Langley Castle’s Guide to Elopement Weddings
What could be more perfect than eloping to Langley Castle and enjoying an exquisite, intimate wedding for two, full of mindfulness and a true expression of love for each other, forsaking all others?
We think the answer is ‘nothing’, which is why we’re making our move to be the number one wedding venue for eloping couples in the UK, whether they are a bride and groom or a same-sex couple.
Langley is such a fairy-tale castle and profoundly romantic place that couples have already recognised there is nowhere more idyllic for an elopement wedding. We’ve built up some true expertise in weddings for two (and shed many a tear, when acting as witnesses), so an eloping couple is in very safe hands when they choose Langley Castle for their elopement wedding.
To make this point, we have created our own guide to UK elopement weddings.. We had our very own illustration commissioned, to convey just how romantic a wedding for two is, here at Langley Castle, but have also packed the guide full of useful information about elopement weddings, guiding you through the process, step by step.
We’ve even gone further than that, highlighting the most romantic things to do, here at the castle, as well as in wider Northumberland, once you’ve tied the knot!
Elopement weddings (weddings for two) and smaller weddings were hugely popular here during the height of the pandemic and we also created the UK’s first ‘Bubble Wedding’. Read our guide and you will soon see that we deeply care about creating the extraordinary and truly memorable smaller wedding for you (or a much larger exclusive-use wedding, if you prefer). Call us on01434 688888, to arrange yours.
Langley Castle Gives Kids ‘Hairy History’ Fun
Langley Castle has set the bar for the UK ‘edu-staycation’ - letting kids learn, whilst on holiday, catching up on time lost in the classroom.
Located just a few miles from both Hadrian’s Wall and medieval Hexham, Langley can not only give children an amazing stay within walls that have seen 7 centuries of history but also serve up some engrossing (and gross!) history, in fun fashion.
We’ve interpreted our dramatic and turbulent history (and a little bit of Roman history before that), in a humorous, vibrant and edgy way, in our very own ‘Hairy History’, downloadable here https://www.langleycastle.co.uk/en/history-for-kids/
Much of it links to topics covered by the history syllabus’s various Key Stages and you can learn of local Roman History (BL (Before Langley), as we call it, before discovering much more. ‘Think’ turbulent life on the Anglo-Scottish border in ancient times, Gunpowder Plot and Jacobite Rebellions, not to mention Henry IV, Henry VIII, the Black Death, crime and punishment and the fearsome Border Reivers!
There are some jokes and challenges along the way and any kid can make use of this guide, whether they stay here or not. If they do stay, however, the buildings and landscape will come to life in a super-cool way.
They can also build on this knowledge through our daily Battlement Tours, learning more about the architecture and history of the castle as they tour from top to bottom.
Fantastic local tour guides – Ancient Britain– can provide guests with optional tours, proving what walking encyclopaedias of historical knowledge they are, whether you ask them to focus on Roman, Iron, Stone Age or Jacobite (Stuart) history. They can pick you up and take you to key historic sites, to do everything from tasting Roman-style food, to handling weaponry.
Where else can your kids study like this, without even realising that what they are learning about is all great historical stuff that will help them back at school? Grab Hairy History now, get their little grey cells working and then book a room and make it all come to life!
Castle Hails 2022 As Its Year of the Elopement-Moon
A Northumbrian hotel is experiencing a boom in ‘elopement-moons’ – an elopement wedding and honeymoon rolled into one.
Langley Castle, in Langley-on-Tyne near Hexham, has seen a boom in direct enquiries for its exquisite ‘weddings for two’ – a speciality at the fairy-tale, medieval castle - since creating its ‘How to Enjoy the Perfect UK Elopement’ guide. Couples are marrying at the castle and then staying on for their honeymoon, having no guests to escape from.
Saving huge sums on the average wedding cost of £32,000 is one reason for the boom. Avoiding family rows another. But it’s also very on-trend to elope – with even Emmerdale soap stars doing so recently. An elopement wedding is focused entirely on the couple and their love. It’s full of mindfulness and also avoids contemplating who is missing within the guest entourage, when so many family members have been lost during the pandemic.
Langley Castle is the perfect place for an elopement-moon and its staff are well-versed in the art of being the perfect witnesses, having shed many a tear at elopement weddings.
The 14th century fairy-tale castle has many romantic nooks and crannies, including gorgeous raised window seats in its drawing room and castle bedrooms, perfect for cuddles and we-time. Four-poster beds make things truly romantic, whilst the lovely 2AA Josephine’s dining room has tables nestled in alcoves, where couples can gaze into each other’s eyes over a candlelit dinner.
Many eloping couples love to explore the 10-acre grounds, with both woodland and lawned areas and even a woodland weddings area which they could use, which can be lit with fairylights and decorated with floral bouquets.
Langley Castle’s free-to-download elopement guide also highlights other romantic things to do in the wider county of Northumberland, during an elopement-moon. Whether it is a romantic hand-in-hand stroll along Bamburgh Beach, nestling in the Janus Chairs in Kielder Forest, or sitting in Langley’s grounds and contemplating the beauty of twinkling stars in this Dark Sky area, there is every reason to make the castle the number 1 elopement-moon choice.
Langley Castle’s executive general manager, Margaret Livingstone-Evans, says: “We know how to make an elopement-moon super-special, whether that is offering the possibility of extraordinary photography on our magnificent battlements, or encouraging couples to snuggle up in blankets in our summerhouse, on cooler days, and watch our resident peacocks strut past. We are sure the Emmerdale soap storyline will have planted a seed in many couples’ minds, when it comes to having a wedding for two, and are anticipating welcoming many more elopement-moon guests this year.”
A wedding for two and a two-night stay at Langley Castle is the core elopement-moon experience and costs from £xxxx, a price including the ceremony, witnesses, xxxxxx, a fairy-tale room inside the castle, huge Northumbrian breakfast each day and candlelit dinner each evening. Of course, the elopement-moon can be extended for additional days.
To find out more, head to www.langleycastle.co.uk or download the elopement guide here https://bit.ly/3Ctxejl to decide if an elopement is right for you.
ENDS
Press calls: Jane Hunt, Catapult PR, 01253 446925 – jane@catapultpr.co.uk
