Castle Rising — Attraction in King's Lynn and West Norfolk

I have a great affection for Castle Rising and have been visiting it for many years. Today we spent a couple of hours or more there on a beautifully sunny day and explored the castle & grounds thoroughly. However, our visit was overshadowed by a few things; the visitor centre was shut (again!) and we saw many people trying to gain access in order to buy tickets. I do not think any of them used the 'honesty box', though is that a surprise? English Heritage missed out today, and God knows how many other times this year. Also, parts of the castle are now off limits, marked as 'dangerous'. Over the last couple of years there has been a marked deterioration of the castle, which is an absolute tragedy. Clearly no preservation work is being undertaken. Finally, as we were leaving (at 5:50pm, the place shuts at 6:00pm) I approached a lady who was attending the toilets (which are often closed!) and politely asked if I could use the gents before we left. I was barked at in a surly manner that I'd have to use the disabled toilet. Whilst I was doing so the woman told my wife, in a surly tone, that we were in danger of being locked in. These things notwithstanding, we had an enjoyable time. Bear in mind when visiting that the car park and paths are very uneven! There are toilets but they are frequently locked and the opening hours of the visitor centre haphazard. The castle is set in a lovely village though and is worth...

We went on a Reenactment weekend and it was absolutely fantastic. Everyone was so knowledgeable and friendly, big shout out to Boudicca and the Iceni tribe, and the Roman centurion & artefacts. Medieval musicians & also the field hospital dog! They were some of our favourites.

There were demonstrations every hour, which we could watch from the top of the settlement or at eye level. We would have liked a few more involving children throughout the day so they could get involved. Toilets are based in the car park. The moat around the castle is a good run around to let off some steam.

The castle itself is well preserved but empty so doesn't take long to look round. Would have liked a board in each room to show what the rooms may have looked like and how they'd be used. The kitchen fireplace for example was fantastic but tricky to explain to my children without images.

No food served on site but there is a pub and cafe less than a 5 minute walk down from the site which serve good food for families and child & dog friendly.

Would highly recommend a visit when there is a reenactment on. We bought an English Heritage membership (which you must do online as Castle Rising isn't owned by them) as the reenactment cost extra and this got us 50% off.

Thank you to everyone who was part of the reenactments, we couldn't get round all of the tents as there was so much on covering a long period of history to cater to...

We went as a family of 4 (4 year old and 8 month old). The castle wasn't large but was interesting enough to keep my little boy happy and had some nice green to play on. We went around it twice. For adults however there were minimal panels and as the floor of the Great hall is gone there wasn't lots and lots to see. However the castle was nice outside and we took a picnic and had that there to. The walk round the ramparts was nice to see out over the nearby area. Shame the roof isn't open to view from there. The gift shop/entrance is manned by 2 slightly sour faced women (well it was when we went). It's still owned by some lord or other so it isn't included in our Premier Rewards Membership (How it is then EH is beyond me? To get around death duties???) Anyway just don't bother taking the kids in there as there are loads of things to touch which these ladies don't like the kids touching. Otherwise a couple of nice hours. Not sure I would visit again as it was a way for us (Norwich) but was a nice...