Discover Chillingham: Castle, Wild Cattle and History

Chillingham combines impressive history with an extraordinary wildlife population. The main attractions are Chillingham Castle, the Wild Cattle of Chillingham and the landscape surrounding the lakes on the castle grounds. If you are planning a trip with different interests, you can combine culture, historical stories and wildlife observation here to create a varied stay.

Chillingham Castle and St Peter’s Church

The towers of Chillingham Castle were built in the 12th or 13th century. The connecting walls date from the late 16th century. The castle also displays the “Licence to Crenellate” from 1344. These details give the site a layered historical character extending from its medieval fortifications to later structural additions.

The history of the place also includes St Peter’s Church on the grounds of Chillingham Castle. The church dates from around 1100 and is listed as a Grade I building. Inside, there is a 15th-century tomb commemorating soldier-general Sir Ralph Grey and his wife Elizabeth. Those interested in churches, nobility and medieval heritage will find another specific focus for planning their trip here, without reducing the castle’s history to a single building.

Wild Cattle: Wildlife Observation in a Special Form

Chillingham Cattle Park covers approximately 350 acres. It includes the surrounding woodland and the herd of Wild Cattle. These cattle are said to be the only survivors of the wild herds that once roamed the forests of Britain. Chillingham has also been home to the Wild Cattle of Chillingham for at least 800 years. This long connection between the place and the herd makes wildlife observation a subject in its own right alongside the castle’s history.

On a tour of the Wild Cattle of Chillingham, visitors are taken in a Land Rover trailer along a track to the starting point of the Cattle Tour. A short walk then leads into the Cattle Park, where visitors observe the cattle and learn about their history. The “Up close and personal tours” offer a different focus: A Polaris 4x4 vehicle takes visitors among the cattle and into remote areas of the park that cannot be reached on foot. This allows you to distinguish between a guided tour with a historical focus and a particularly direct vehicle tour when choosing your travel experiences.

Tours, Lakes and Practical Orientation

Chillingham Castle’s Ghost Tours and Ghost Hunts also take place throughout the year. Alongside daytime experiences focused on history and animals, this provides another format that presents Chillingham from a more unusual perspective. The lakes on the grounds of Chillingham Castle are fed by seven springs and five streams, adding a landscape detail to the character of the site.

For practical planning of the Wild Cattle tour, the car park is located directly behind St Peter’s Church on the route. When choosing holiday accommodation or a holiday house in Chillingham, you can therefore first consider which experiences should define your stay: the castle and church, the Wild Cattle, the Ghost Tours held throughout the year or a combination of several themes. This helps you make a suitable accommodation choice for your preferred travel rhythm without equating individual offerings with one another.

More destinations for planning your trip

If you would like to choose other places in addition to Chillingham, you can also discover Ponteland, Haydon Bridge, Newbiggin-By-The-Sea, Powburn, Ilderton, Slaley, Haltwhistle and North Sunderland via this overview.

For the main travel overview: Northumberland.